October 06, (THEWILL) – The management of the Jos, Plateau State-based confectioneries manufacturing company, NASCO Group Nigeria, has contested allegations that its late founder, Dr. Ahmed Nasreddin, sponsored terrorism.
It cited several local and international investigations it claimed gave a lie to insinuations that Nasreddin bank-rolled known fundamental Islamist Jihadists, terrorists and terrorism organisations.
In its Tuesday, October 5, 2021 Press Statement, NASCO’s management dismissed as mischievous and untrue a report that went viral on social media and traced Nasreddin to his Eritrean roots, positioned him as an accomplice of controversial Islamic scholars and accused him of using his vast wealth to sponsor Jihadist fundamentalism.
The statement came in response to a viral piece titled, “Cornflakes For Jihad: The Boko Haram Origin Story,” in which the writer pinned the allegations on the NASCO entrepreneur, who died in Rome, Italy in March 2021, aged 96.
The report described Nasreddin as an Eritrean who moved to Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, where he “grew his father’s small manufacturing business into a $460 million conglomerate involved in everything from breakfast cereal and confectionery to pharmaceuticals, real estate and energy….
“The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has recently been gazetted, and one of the first things its counter-terrorism unit does is to freeze all assets linked to NASCO Group Nigeria Limited. Apparently, Mr. Nasreddin has been doing some creative accounting to hide the fact that he is moving money around the world to fund Islamist terror organisations. Or at least, that was what the Nigerian government itself wrote to the UN in the same letter….
“The real proof of Nasreddin’s double life however, comes from the US Treasury Department which publishes a comprehensive account of how he launders and moves money around the world for terrorist entities. Want to hear the real kicker? Nasreddin has been funding and laundering money for none other than GSPC – the Algerian terrorist group which Yakubu Katsina and Shahru Haruna are also involved with at the exact same time….
“The Nigerian jihadis being trained in Algerian camps in 2002 will later return to Nigeria and make up the core of what will later become known as ‘Boko Haram.’ And –what a coincidence– NASCO is also based in Jos, which so happens to be the headquarters of the Izala Movement and its many North African dalliances.
“Using money made from selling market-leading FMCGs (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) to Nigerian consumers, a cross-border network of terrorism is being nurtured that will someday kill the very kids eating NASCO cornflakes every morning. And it’s all thanks to this nice gentleman from Eritrea.”
However, NASCO contends that the allegations sprang from the imagination of the writer and failed to take cognisance that its Founder received exoneration from terrorism funding from the United Nations Security Council and the US Government.
The full text of its defensive Press Statement wears the title, “NASCO GROUP REJECTS IRRESPONSIBLE & FAKE JOURNALISM,” and goes on to say:
“The Management of NASCO Group Nigeria notes the defamatory and slanderous contents of an online article currently being circulated on social media about our business. We state categorically that we have never, and will never be sponsors to any criminal act, organization, or violence of any kind that will disrupt the peace and tranquillity of the Nigerian state or any country in the world.
“After the unfortunate events of 2001, thousands of people and entities around the world were subjected to various investigations. A detailed examination by the United Nations Security Council and the US Government totally exonerated NASCO’s late Founder, Dr. Ahmed Nasreddin, and his business interests, of all false allegations. It was clearly established that NASCO was never at any time associated with the sponsorship of terrorism directly or indirectly anywhere in the world (References United Nations Security Council Resolution SC 9172 dated 15 November 2007 & United Nations Security Council Resolution S/2008/25 dated 17 January 2008).
“A similar investigation was carried out by the National Intelligence Agency of Nigeria, where it also came to the same conclusion, thereby exonerating our late Founder and NASCO Group of any act or complicity in the sponsorship of terrorism in Nigeria or in any other country (Reference National Intelligence Agency of Nigeria, Report to the Presidency, dated 11 April 2008)
“Contrary to the false allegations, at no time were the assets of NASCO Group Nigeria and/or any of its associated trade, commercial and business interests ever seized, nor their accounts frozen, due to any of those investigations. NASCO can also categorically affirm that it has never been associated with nor had business dealings with any of the persons mentioned in the false report.
“NASCO Group is one of the leading companies in Nigeria, with an acknowledged legacy of working towards the economic growth and development of the nation, while positively impacting the lives of millions of people. Since 1963, the company has been committed to best practices in the manufacturing of quality products of international standards.
“Over the last 58 years, NASCO has achieved many milestones and is still contributing significantly to Nigeria’s rich agricultural and industrial heritage. The company directly employs thousands of talented people across its various sites, and indirectly sustains the employment and livelihood of hundreds of thousands more people across the nation. We actively support thousands of local farmers from whom we source maize for our award winning whole-flaked NASCO Cornflakes
“We therefore firmly reject this false report, which was done in a clearly orchestrated manner with malicious intent, aimed at causing commercial damage to our successful brands. It speaks volumes that the individual who was responsible for this mischievous article chose to only feature false allegations almost two-decades old, while intentionally leaving out the final UN resolutions and the accompanying exonerations.
“As with all false and hate-filled articles, the truth will always prevail. NASCO will continue to provide the ‘quality life’ for Nigeria and its people.
“Signed NASCO Group Management.”
The NASCO Group originally began in Jos in 1963 through the Nasreddin family’s patriarch, an Eritrean emigrant to Nigeria, Ahmed Idris Nasreddin.
The company has today become a major conglomerate that boasts of four major manufacturing units, although it is best known for its biscuits, cornflakes and “super sacks.”
