2 Months After LEADERSHIP Enquiry, US Embassy Tongue-tied Over Kaltho’s Death

For two months now since it was first contacted, the United States Embassy in Abuja has remained mute to the inquiry by LEADERSHIP Newspapers regarding its alleged involvement in the disappearance or possible death of Nigerian journalist, Bagauda Kaltho, in 1996.

A former US Embassy staffer, Rusell Hanks, had in a recent interview with LEADERSHIP raised suspicion about the US Embassy’s alleged involvement in the death of the journalist, who went missing in 1996 after a bomb blast at Durbar Hotel, Kaduna.

Bagauda Kaltho’s mysterious disappearance resurfaced about four months ago when a Kaduna-based activist, Shehu Mahdi, told Arise News channel that the US government, through Hanks, may have recruited the missing journalist to allegedly carry out a bomb attack at Durbar Hotel in Kaduna to unsettle the military government of the late General Sani Abacha.

In the interview with Arise, Mahdi claimed that Hanks offered him a bribe of N1 million to plant a bomb at Durbar Hotel in Kaduna but he rejected the offer.

He however alleged that since Kaltho was also seen with Hanks at the same time, it was possible he took the offer to carry out the explosion which rocked the hotel in 1996.

Hanks, a political affairs officer in the US Embassy at the time, admitted in an interview with LEADERSHIP that he was at the Hotel at the time of the blast but declined further comments on the controversy, saying he will not speak until the US Embassy has spoken about it.

“But I am afraid I can’t help you much. I can’t say anything about it now until the US embassy in Nigeria has spoken on the issue. When they do that and you are not satisfied or you need further clarification on some issues, then call me back and I will provide you with the details,” he was quoted to have said.

Efforts by LEADERSHIP newspapers to get the US Mission to clarify its position on the matter did not yield  results as the Mission rebuffed all the inquiries.

LEADERSHIP had contacted the US Embassy through its official email, ‘[email protected]’, asking it to respond to the issue to no avail.

This was followed by an official letter written by the Editor, Peter Ekele, dated September 19, 2022, to the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard on the issue, which was again not responded to.

A second letter of reminder dated September 27, 2022 to the Ambassador by the paper’s Editor was again ignored.

LEADERSHIP had reported that the attitude of the US Embassy, especially that of the Ambassador, became really disturbing, strengthening the suspicion that the US government may have a hand in the alleged disappearance or death of Kaltho.

In its earlier report, the paper recalled that the wife of the missing journalist, Mrs Martha Kaltho, had called for investigation into her husband’s mysterious disappearance during the regime of the late General Sani Abacha.

Mrs Kaltho, in an exclusive interview with a sister publication, LEADERSHIP Friday, said activist, Shehu Mahdi and ex-US envoy to Nigeria, Russell Hanks, should be held accountable for the whereabouts of her husband who has not been seen since 1996.

She debunked the claim made by Shehu Mahdi that her husband was complicit in the said explosion at Dubar Hotel in Kaduna in 1995.

Mrs Kaltho has since demanded that the federal government reopen investigation into her husband’s disappearance which happened between 1996 and 1997 during the military regime of the late Gen Abacha.

Mrs Kaltho however said recently that her family will no longer speak further on the saga, suggesting that she might have been induced or threatened.

In the same vein, calls put across to Hanks for more information on the matter were not answered, which again raised suspicion of threat or inducement.

LEADERSHIP had reported that the Nigerian public had expressed worries about the controversy even as Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) called for the immediate probe of the mystery behind the death of Kaltho.

The CSOs insisted that people who took part in such a heinous act must be brought to face justice, adding that it would serve as a deterrent to others.

The CSOs who spoke with LEADERSHIP on the matter are Transparency International (TI), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG).

Speaking through their leader, Awwal Musa Rafsanjani, the CSOs said the investigation will not be about whether the Buhari-led government was aware of the incident or not, adding that such atrocities must be investigated no matter how long it takes.

Rafsanjani said, “Is not about the government. It is about the country. There is nothing wrong with the government investigating the killing of Journalist Bagauda Kaltho.

“Even though it happened during the military, the government must investigate it because there are human rights violations, and we will continue to insist that such investigation is carried out.

“It is the duty of the government to investigate. It doesn’t matter when it happened. The crime must be investigated no matter how long it takes.

“The government should Investigate this mystery and ensure that perpetrators are brought to book, it will help. It will serve as a deterrent to others. It will help in avoiding that kind of human rights abuses.”