Festus Keyamo, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has been accused by Zainab, an American citizen of Yemeni and Congolese-Ugandan ancestry, of allegedly fabricating Ugandan records and falsifying legal documents in order to covertly remove her mother’s remains from Nigeria without her knowledge or consent.
According to SaharaReporters, Zainab met Keyamo on September 21, 2023, while she was serving as a translator at a United Nations event in New York, USA. Keyamo eventually travelled to meet Zainab’s mother and made plans to move them to Nigeria as their romance developed quickly.
Zainab, her mother, and other passengers boarded Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET513 on November 13, 2023, and stayed in opulent lodgings that were allegedly organised and paid for by Keyamo.
They were transported to Abuja by private plane on December 22, 2024, boycotting the usual immigration processes. After a brief stay in New York, Zainab left her mother in Keyamo’s care and left for Nigeria on April 9, 2024.
Zainab claimed that as soon as she got back, she saw her mother’s condition had declined. According to reports, household workers revealed concerning circumstances in the house, such as negligence and a deficiency of essential utilities. She claimed Keyamo, who had previously promised to care for her mother as if she were his own, had not paid her a visit or enquired about her well-being.
Zainab said that her mother passed away under strange circumstances while still in Keyamo’s care.
She claimed she encountered intimidation and hindrance when she started looking for answers. She said she felt deceived by someone she had trusted during this time and that the abuse she received was extremely demeaning.
She described how she was completely shut out of the funeral procedure in an interview with news men.
She claimed that Keyamo and his associates manipulated the funeral plans and falsified court records in order to seize the body including an affidavit. She added that her constant demand for an autopsy fell on deaf ears.
She said “Oga’s sister and CSO tracked me to the funeral home. They had called Banu (her driver) repeatedly and pressured him to drop our location despite my begging him not to. I believe fear made him comply.”
“They barged in, loud and confrontational. They made accusations, dismissed the funeral home, and insisted they were in charge. They spoke at me, not with me,”
“Then, suddenly, a document was shared in the group, an affidavit from the High Court. To my shock, Oga’s CSO had gone behind my back, claimed to be my mother’s friend, and obtained it in my absence. I don’t know what lies were told or who authorised it, but at that moment, I realised they were operating fully behind my back.
“They were secretly planning to send my mother’s body to wherever. They’d contacted my cousin Doug and fed him false information, telling him I was en route to Uganda to find burial grounds. They also claimed I would return if that didn’t work, and try Congo, and if all else failed, we’d go to America.”
“Meanwhile, I was being held captive, unaware of any of this,” she added.
Responding to this, Festus Keyamo called Zainab’s accusations an attempt at blackmail and rejected them. He said his sister, Ruth Keyamo, had more information about the situation.
Ruth Keyamo when reached, refuted all of the accusations. She insisted that Zainab gave her approval for the body to be removed and produced what she claimed was a signed letter from June 6, 2024, purportedly authorising the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to act on Zainab’s behalf.
The document, which was signed by “Rambo Heidi Kim,” allegedly gave Felix Okolie, the minister’s CSO, permission to pick up Zainab’s mother’s body from the mortuary.
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