Nigerians on social media have descended on Nigeria’s former Minister of Environment and current Under Secretary at the United Nations, Mrs. Amina Mohammed following the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) release of a report showing how over 1.4 million illegal rosewood logs from Nigeria, worth $300 million, were laundered into China under Amina’s authorisation as Minister.
The Nigerians who took to micro-blogging site Twitter, described the former Minister who served under President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘anti-corruption’ government as a ‘beautiful thief’.
According to Foreign Policy, “Wood from rosewood trees — also known as kosso — is prized in China for its pinkish hue and purplish-brown streaks. Since 2012, however, the export of rosewood has decimated forests throughout West Africa. Environmentalists fear that uncontrolled deforestation of the region’s woodlands will encourage soil erosion and accelerate the spread of Saharan desert into once productive areas. Mohammed’s 11th-hour decision to approve the kosso shipments was first documented by a Washington-based environmental group and is now part of an inquiry by the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which Nigeria is a signatory.
“In a letter to Nigerian authorities in August 2017, John Scanlon, CITES’s secretary-general, raised concern about information his agency had received indicating that as many as 10,000 containers of Nigerian rosewood had been stopped by Chinese authorities between May and December 2016, because they were not accompanied by the proper CITES documentation, according to Michael Osakuade, the acting director of Nigeria’s Department of Forestry. On Dec. 31, 2016, Mohammed herself imposed a three-month ban on the trade in rosewood. Yet following Mohammed’s mass signings, more than two weeks after the ban went into force, the trade quickly resumed: Chinese trade data show that between then and April, as many as 12,000 containers of kosso logs were cleared to enter the country.”
The group plans on Thursday to release a 40-page report alleging that Mohammed’s approval of the kosso exports violated the CITES agreement. EIA claims that the former Nigerian minister broke the convention’s rules by permitting the shipments of kosso logs that were mislabeled as processed or semi-processed wood — which can be legally exported under the agreement — and that she retroactively approved exports of rosewood shipments that left Nigerian ports without the required certificates.
Although Mohammed denied EIA’s charges, saying she never approved the export of mislabeled logs and that she only signed permits for kosso that was still in Nigeria, many Nigerians on social media have labelled her corrupt, calling for her probe.
See some tweets;
Amina Mohammed should be arrested, prosecuted and locked up. Looted $300 million then ran to the @UN Beautiful thief.
— Ataga (@ExplorerAtaga) November 10, 2017
Amina Mohammed took millions of dollar in bribe & illegally authorised the stealing of endangered woods worth over $300m….
Our ‘corruption hating patriots’ will ignore this devastating story.
Amina Mohammed was caught stealing while working with mesiah Buhari
— Kingsley (@kingysly_01) November 10, 2017
How could you sign 4,000 permits in your last day in office? Amina Mohammed knew what she was doing! She messed up big
— Imhons Erons (@ImhonsSays) November 10, 2017
People should go to jail for this stuff
No way Ms. Amina Mohammed can claim some of the money did not get to her pockets.
The web is too deep for her not to have known or OK’ed some of the deals pic.twitter.com/n8U9iJ8cFA
— afrispheric (@afrispheric) November 10, 2017
Amina Mohammed’s involvement in the $300 million wood exploitation scandal is just sad. She was looking like one of the best of this unfortunate government. Now this.
— Umari (@UmariAyim) November 10, 2017
The only dim bulb in Buhari’s team (fmr) Amina Mohammed in corruption scandal running into $300m
The woman is being fried in the foreign media as we tweet
Interesting
— IKECHUKWU (@iykimo) November 10, 2017
On 13th January 2017, Amina Mohammed’s handle tweeted that she briefed Minister for Trade about ban on wood export.
On 16th January 2017, 3 days after she signed as much as 3,800 permits for export of ban wood.
If this is NOT corruption, please what is corruption?#AminaGate pic.twitter.com/4jocrkBRBd
— Adetutu Balogun (@Tutsy22) November 11, 2017
Whether it’s Maina, NNPC $25 billion scam, Babachir grass cutter, Amina Mohammed’s $300 million scandal, the ₦700 million website, Buratai’s Dubai house or the Ikoyi billions, the Buhari admin has delivered more CORRUPTION than CHANGE to the Nigerian people.
— Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) November 10, 2017
Nigeria is fantastically
corrupt and the world
is aware of thatThe question is,
What qualified
Amina Mohammed
To be in that position
At the first place?The only thing she
Knows how to do is
Looting@UN have to lead
By example@antonioguterres. https://t.co/ufBTyArUyj— Favour John (@favourbia995203) November 10, 2017
Boko Haram actually benefitted from the #TheRosewoodRacket
Ms. Amina Mohammed has a lot to answer for…
— afrispheric (@afrispheric) November 10, 2017
Shame!
She is a looter
Amina of UN@antonioguterres @AminaJMohammed @UN @ECOWASParliamnt @_AfricanUnion https://t.co/GRW7659ZIF— Amaka Ekwo (@Amaka_Ekwo) November 10, 2017
Buhari’s former Minister and now U.N Under Sec General, Mrs Amina Mohammed involved in $300million scandal, according to Washington DC based Environmental Investigation Agency, EIA. She signed retroactive permit for 1.4million rosewood logs from Nigeria to China!
— Jackson Ude (@jacksonpbn) November 9, 2017
If Amina J. Mohammed actually did what she was accused of doing, then it is safe to assume she did not start doing that kind of stuff today.
— Onye Nkuzi (@cchukudebelu) November 11, 2017
There’s an early morning briefing regarding the illegal woods scandal. But @un spokesman stated that Mohammed Amina signed the docs pic.twitter.com/IBRvL7lYCv
— Khaleesi (@AbangMercy) November 10, 2017
I don’t think a Photo-Ops of Amina Mohammed smiling with Buhari officials will be enough to let her off the hook this time around. ???? https://t.co/DnkDZrr497
— Mr Stanley Nwabia (@MrStanleyNwabia) November 10, 2017
Wow, incredibly disappointing news on Amina Mohammed.
— S’Challa (@saratu) November 10, 2017
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