Nigerian businessman, medical professional and activist, Mahdi Shehu, has narrated how a Kaduna-based journalist, Mr Bagauda Kaltho, possibly lost his life.
He said he reasonably suspected that Kaltho, who had been declared missing since 1995, might have died in an event which happened 27 years ago and was significant to the turn of many other events in the country.
In his narration, which he verbalised in an interview on Arise TV, Mahdi cited an event of 1995, where he was offered money to place a parcel bomb in the bookshop of Durbar Hotel, Kaduna by a named American Political Officer.
He identified the man as Russell J. Hanks, a diplomat in US embassy, who according to him, led the recruitment.
Hanks is now a retired diplomat and senior official in the U.S. Department of State.
He reportedly received a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science from Southwestern Oklahoma State University (Weatherford) in 1977, a MPA in Public Administration and International Relations from Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff) in 1987, and a MS in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University (Washington, DC) in 2008.
He joined the Foreign Service in 1988 and had served in West Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and South America.
Mr Hanks was at the center of Guyana and Nigeria’s elections in the 1990s.
The Officer, according to Mahdi, was named Russell Hanks and he offered him N1 million at the time to bomb the hotel.
Hanks according to his LinkedIn profile was a Senior Associate at Nebula Group, USA, LLC.
He worked in the United States Department of State for 26 years and 9 months and Abuja was one of the places he was posted to when he served.
● What did Mahdi say about the bomb offer and the American officer?
“Let me tell you my experience 27 years ago. Between the 7th and 9th of June, 1995, 27 years ago in Kaduna, when the bashing of Nigeria’s image was at its own highest peak. A then Governor, Lt. Col Lawal Jafaru Isa, he’s alive now and he can confirm what I’m going to tell you now, put up a seminar between Kaduna State government, New Nigerian newspapers and NTA. The seminar was titled “Not in Our Character”, Mahdi narrated to Arise TV on The Morning Show.
“All federal government officials were there, state governments, security agencies, Matthew Hassan Kukah delivered a paper there. I also spoke on the floor. The import of the seminar was to deconstruct the image being painted of Nigeria that is so bad.
“But what is the news there? The news is that, after the seminar… after my contribution, a tall, lanky, blue-eyed, blonde-haired American man approached me outside the hall at Hassan Chiroman Katsina House, venue of the seminar. He just handed over his card to me and left.
“What was the name on it? Russell J. Hanks, American Embassy, Political Officer. That was on the 9th of June, 1995.
“Not until the 11th of August I received a call on my land line and on the caller ID, I saw the number, it was Russell’s number. He said ‘Mahdi, I’m just calling as a follow-up to our meeting the last time and say hello to you. Bye bye,’ he dropped (the call). Again, on September 9th, he called me again for the same courtesy call, then 11th of December, he called me and said that ‘Mahdi, I’ll be coming to Kaduna, will you have a cup of tea with me?’ I said fine. He came in, he called and I met him at Hamdala Hotel. We had a cup of tea. I think he was trying to size me up because he was busy asking me about the performance of Abacha’s government and I was playing safe, but then came the big bang.
“On 21st December of the same year (1995), he came in to Kaduna and he called me. He said ‘Mahdi, I have a business for you. And it’s very important. Meet me at Hamdala Hotel, on the last floor at Hamdala Hotel wing, which I did.
“On arrival, Russel Hanks told me, ‘Mahdi, we are worried, the American government is doing a bomb campaign against Abacha, we don’t want him. We are promoting a regime change. This parcel (holds out phone in description) is what I want you to do. See Durbar Hotel, just away there – 600 metres. Go into the bookshop and drop this parcel- small parcel. This is N500,000 for you and another N500,000 waiting for you. Once you drop the parcel, please come back to collect the second N500,000.
“I said ‘Russel, you have miscalculated. When I addressed Adamu Ciroma as the Minister for Agriculture in that seminar you’re referring to, when I addressed (Abubakar) Rimi as the Communications Minister, when I addressed Ismaila Isa Funtua as the Chairman of Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, I did that as a citizen, not because I don’t like my country. I dressed him down. I abused him.
“He said Mahdi Mahdi, now I know you’re a good citizen. I’m just trying to test you. You are nationalistic. We look forward to working with you to stabilise Nigeria and that was another fault. I held him because I saw desperation in him. He wanted me to leave but I refused to leave, then I heard a knock on the door (gwamp-gwamp).”
Mahdi narrated that he refused Hanks’ offer to bomb Durbar Hotel but when he was about leaving, he saw the late journalist, Bagauda Kaltho, at the entrance of Hanks’ room.
“We went to the door together and he wanted to see me off. At the door was Bagauda Kaltho, the journalist that was said to have been killed by Abacha.
“Bagauda was right at the door there. I think he gave him an hour before me but I keyed into Bagauda’s hour.
“Bagauda went into the room and I left. What happened? Not long after that, two hours later, bomb! Where? Durbar Hotel. Where? At the bookshop.
“When that happened, Lawal Jafaru Isa can confirm this, I drove straight to the government house to see the Governor. For what reason? Urgent security reason. I was ushered into Lawal Jafaru Isa’s office and I told him what happened. The following day, I was brought to Abuja. I was able to see Abacha in his residence and I narrated to him.
“Before they could say Jack Robinson, four days later, Russel Hank flew out of Nigeria. Ten days later, security operatives came to Kaduna to interview me. When I gave them the narrative, one of them took to the side and said ‘Mahdi, keep off.”
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