Summary
- Nigeria in 1984, with the help of Israeli agents, attempted to drug and smuggle former minister Umaru Dikko back to Nigeria on a Nigerian Airways flight.
- Umaru Dikko was bundled into a transit van from London to be repatriated as a “diplomatic pouch” but was rescued by British authorities.
- The failed Dikko affair led to prison sentences for Nigerian and Israeli agents while British-Nigerian relations were damaged.
The 1984 Dikko affair is one of the strangest stories in diplomatic-smuggling aviation history (its generally more common to
hear about drug smuggling
). It was an attempt by Nigeria
, with the help of Israeli agents, to drug and smuggle a former Nigerian minister out of the UK back to Nigeria in a “diplomatic pouch” on a Nigerian Airways flight to face trial for corruption charges. At London Stansted Airport
, the British uncovered the plot partly because the kidnappers had been sloppy with their paperwork. Note that Israel and Nigeria denied any role in the Smuggling
.
Background to the kidnapping.
Nigeria was a colony and protectorate of the British Empire until 1960, when it gained independence. It is now the most populous country in Africa and by far the largest country in West Africa. At the end of 1983, a military coup overthrew the Nigerian government, sending former minister for transport Umaru Dikko fleeing to the United Kingdom.
Soon, Mr. Dikko was the most wanted man in Nigeria and was accused of embezzling $1 billion in government money (a fantastic sum of money for the period and for a developing country like Nigeria). Unable to bring him to trial, the Nigerians hatched a plot to get him back.
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Nigerian Airways |
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|---|---|
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Operated: |
1958-2003 |
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Headquarters: |
Abuja, FCT, Nigeria |
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Aircraft flown: |
Vickers VC10, Airbus A310, Boeing 737, Boeing 747, DC-10, |
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International destinations: |
Abidjan, Dubai, Jeddah, London, New York |
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Noted for: |
Mismanagement, corruption, and overstaffing |
In 1984, a team of Nigerians and Israelis attempted to kidnap and repatriate the exiled minister to face justice. One day, Mr. Dikko was walking out of its front door in Bayswater, London (an upmarket neighborhood), and in a scene straight out of a movie, he was trapped by two men and “bundled into the back of a transit van.” The police were promptly alerted by his secretary who saw it from the window.
Mr. Dikko later recounted to the BBC, “I remember the very violent way in which I was grabbed and hurled into a van, with a huge fellow sitting on my head – and the way in which they immediately put on me handcuffs and chains on my legs.”
A human diplomatic pouch
Now the kidnappers had Nigeria’s “most wanted” man, but how to get him back to Nigeria? The answer was by placing him drugged in a crate and calling that crate a diplomatic pouch.
When the diplomatic pouch turned up at Stanstead Airport to be loaded on a Nigerian Airways 707, it immediately raised eyebrows. When asked what was in the crate, the Nigerian diplomat told the airport staff it was just “documents and things.” While plenty of diplomatic pouches flow through London’s airports, in 1984, they didn’t tend to go through Stansted.
|
Dikko affair |
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|---|---|
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Date: |
5 July 1984 |
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Man kidnapped: |
Umaru Dikko |
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Flight: |
Nigerian Flight 707 |
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Airport: |
London Stansted |
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Error: |
Failed to properly label the crate or present the correct paper work |
The airport staff was unfamiliar with the procedure and so had to check. While they were checking, they heard news from Scotland Yard that a Nigerian had been kidnapped and would likely be smuggled out of the country. Everything about these “pouches” was suspicious (there were two of them). A large crate, little other cargo going into the flight, an unusual airport, a flight (Nigerian Airway 707) not normally seen at the airport. The staff called the British Foreign Office.
Opening the “diplomatic pouch”
The State Department defines a diplomatic pouch as “any properly identified and sealed package, pouch, envelope, bag, or other container that is used to transport official correspondence, documents, and other articles intended for official use, between [embassies, foreign offices, etc.]“
Photo: London Stansted Airport
The State Department also says, “Inviolability of Diplomatic Pouches In accordance with Article 27.3 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR), properly designated diplomatic pouches ‘shall not be opened or detained.'” It says even X-rays violate this rule.
However, the Nigerian crate was not “properly designated.” To qualify, the “pouch” had to be marked with the works ‘Diplomatic Bag’ and accompanied by an accredited courier with the appropriate documentation. While a Nigerian diplomat accompanied it, it didn’t have the right paperwork, nor were the crates labeled ‘Diplomatic Bag.’ And so the British opened the crates to find Mr. Dikko drugged and unconscious.
Aftermath
The BBC states, “The Nigerian intelligence officer and the three Israelis all received prison sentences in the UK.” All were released after they had served their sentences.
The Dikko affair seriously damaged British and Nigerian relations for years and relations were only fully restored two years later. Nigeria filed a formal extradition order for Dikko but the British refused (along with other Nigerians wanted for corruption charges).
But history and politics are often stranger than fiction. Dikko was eventually asked to return to Nigeria. Ten years later, Mr Dikko returned and then set up a political party – the Solidarity Group of Nigeria (SGN). He went on to be appointed the head of the National Disciplinary Committee of the PDP. He died in 2014 at the age of 77 in London.