We Are Sorry: Norway Regrets Selling Warships To Ex-Niger Delta Militant, Tompolo

Norwegian Defence Chief, Haakon Bruun-Hansen, an admiral, has apologised to the country’s lawmakers for the sale of a fleet of a decommissioned naval battleships and combats boats to a former Niger Delta militant, Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo.

The Norwegian government also, at the time, defended the transaction, according to Daglabet newspaper, saying the export “followed correct procedure and terms of export to Great Britain. The re-export from Great Britain to Nigeria is a question to be handled solely by British export control authorities”.

But the report that Norway sold such military hardware to an individual with a history of violence angered the country’s lawmakers and triggered an investigation leading to the arrest of three Norwegian civil servants, now being charged for corruption.

Speaking during a parliamentary disciplinary committee enquiry into the sale of the battleships this week, the defense chief, Mr. Bruun-Hansen, admitted that military officials did not do proper due diligence before selling the decommissioned ships.

“The fact that the vessels have landed in Nigeria under Nigerian flag reflects a breakdown in our systems, and I apologize for that,” Mr. Bruun-Hansen said during Thursday’s hearing.

Mr. Bruun-Hansen was not the Chief of Defence at the time when the battle ship were sold to CAS Global.

News bureau NTB reported that Mr. Bruun-Hansen’s predecessor, Harald Sunde, who was in-charge when the deal was struck, also apologized saying he was disappointed over all the mistakes made.

He however blamed the breakdown of due diligence in the sale of the vessel to a reorganization at the defence department’s logistics organization (FLO), at the time the sales was made.

Also speaking during the hearing, Norwegian Foreign Minister, Børge Brende, said a lot about the sale and export of the vessels are still not known and the state prosecutor has been ordered to seek possible criminal violations.

Dagbladet, which uncovered the shady deal, reported that a simple google search would have revealed that CAS Global only had a post office address, yet the military went ahead and allowed Nigerian representatives of the firm, probably handpicked by Mr. Ekpemupolo, to inspect the vessels before they were sold.

“Does this mean that anybody can buy these boats, as long as they sign a declaration?” asked an irate Member of Parliament, Erik Skutle. “Even terrorists? How on earth could this happen?” he added.

During the hearing, Petter Jansen, the head of FLO also tried unsuccessfully to answer questions about another revelation by Dagbladet that Norwegian military had another former Norwegian Coast Guard vessel, the KV Titran, through a South African brokerage company, Nautic Africa, which in turn sold the vessel to an unnamed Nigerian company.

Mr. Jansen admitted that that transaction didn’t also follow due diligence