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RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000418 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, INR/AA 
BAGHDAD FOR DMCCULLOUGH 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2019 
TAGS: PREL PU NI ECOWAS
SUBJECT: NIGERIA - GUINEA-BISSAU: FONMIN DISCUSSES ECOWAS 
ASSESSMENT TRIP TO BISSAU 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Robin R. Sanders for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) During the course of Ambassador's discussions with 
Nigerian Foreign Minister Maduekwe on AMISOM March 8, he 
debriefed her on his recent assessment trip to Guinea-Bissau 
(GB) representing President Yar'Adua as Chairman of ECOWAS. 
Maduekwe returned from GB on March 6, and departed again the 
afternoon of March 10 for a second mission to the troubled 
nation.  Overall the Nigerian FonMin made the following 
points on the situation on the ground and the prelude to the 
assassination of GB President Vieira. 
 
¶2.  (C) Maduekwe told the Ambassador that back in December 
2008 at the ECOWAS Summit, where Nigeria assumed the ECOWAS 
chairmanship, the late GB president told Yar'Adua that he 
feared for his life. Vieira reportedly told the GON Head of 
State that he was worried that the late GB Chief of Defense 
Staff (CDS) would try to assassinate him. He reportedly said 
that his negative relationship with his CDS (which was common 
knowledge) had deteriorated to such a point over the 
country's security situation, particularly on drug 
trafficking, that he feared for his life.  Maduekwe claims 
that Vieira asked the GON for assistance with his personal 
protection, which Nigeria was still considering at the time 
of the GB President's death. 
 
¶3.  (C) Regarding highlights of the recent ECOWAS assessment 
visit, Maduekwe said that he, along with the Deputy Foreign 
Ministers of Angola, Burkina Faso, ECOWAS Chairman Chambas, 
and the Foreign Minister of Senegal, to name a few, attended 
the swearing in of the Speaker of the House as the interim 
President; met with the Minister of Defense but not the 
Service Chiefs; and had the opportunity to see the remnants 
of the bomb -- made in Thailand - that  killed Vieira.  They 
also went to the sites of both assassinations -- Vieira's and 
the Bissauan CDS.  He added that the ECOWAS team also visited 
Vieira's widow who was staying in the Angolan Embassy as a 
safe haven as Vieira had sent her there for protection the 
day before his assassination as, according to Maduekwe, she 
said he knew the end was near. 
 
¶4.  (C) The Ambassador asked Maduekwe what he viewed as next 
steps.  He said that he was quite worried about not having 
elections in 60 days given that the atmosphere in GB is ripe 
for narco-traffickers to take advantage of the political 
vacuum.  Maduekwe, admitting that he had no proof, but said 
that there was a part of him that believed that Vieira and 
his CDS had been played against each other by 
narco-traffickers who could have orchestrated both killings 
in order to ensure that GB ended up with a head of state that 
was under their control.  In addition, he said there were 
major rifts with in the military from what he could see 
between the Minister of Defense and old-line generals on one 
side, and the Service Chiefs on the other side.  He, as well 
as other members of the ECOWAS assessment team, were 
disappointed not to be allowed to meet with the Service 
Chiefs.  The Nigerian Foreign Minister also lamented that the 
crime scene and evidence for both Vieira and the GB CDS had 
been badly contaminated, and he did not believe that anything 
would come out of the investigation of the two killings. 
 
¶5. (C) Maduekwe said that in his conversation with the new 
interim president (former speaker of the GB house) that the 
later was hoping for as much international support as 
possible in order to hold elections, and that GB was looking 
for Nigerian leadership to help GB out through this difficult 
time.  Ambassador underscored our very real concern about the 
rise of narco-trafficking in GB and that certainly a 
political vacuum could make it worse.  On a closing note 
Maduekwe said that in a recent conversation with his 
counterpart in Equatorial Guinea (EG) on the February 2009 
attempt to destabilize the EG government, the EG Foreign 
Minister asked Nigeria to be more of a leader in the region 
on controlling small arms and narco-trafficking. Despite 
Nigeria's views to the contrary, Maduekwe noted, the EG 
government believes that Nigerian narco-traffickers and 
militants are trying to destabilize EG so that it can serve 
 
ABUJA 00000418  002 OF 002 
 
 
as a based to bring in weapons to the Niger Delta or more 
drugs into the West African region. 
SANDERS