Embattled boss of Air Peace, Allen Onyema has revealed how he made the money with which he used to start Air Peace. Recall that the U.S. Department
Embattled boss of Air Peace, Allen Onyema has revealed how he made the money with which he used to start Air Peace.
Recall that the U.S. Department of Justice said Onyema was indicted by a grand jury on several counts of criminal charges bordering on identity theft, bank fraud and money laundering. Facing the charges alongside him is Ejiroghene Eghagha, Air Peace’s head of finance and administration. The full indictment narrated how Onyema, aided by his alleged accomplice, Eghagha, allegedly raised several letters of credit to buy the same planes he had already purchased and added to Air Peace’s fleet of commercial airliners in Nigeria.
Based on the dubious letters of credit, American banking giant Wells Fargo transferred more than $21 million to bank accounts of U.S.-based Springfield Aviation, a suspected shell company registered and controlled by Mr Onyema. Wells Fargo paid the money to Mr Onyema in a series of transactions between February 10, 2017 and February 20, 2018, court documents said.
Onyema has since denied any wrong doing, adding that he would vigorously defend his honour in court, but did not indicate whether or not he would be heading to the United States soon to do so even though American prosecutors have secured court warrants for his and Eghagha’s arrest with corresponding warrants issued for Canadian authorities to detain both suspects should either or both of them be found there.
In an interview with City People magazine in 2017, the interview, Onyema expressed his ‘irritation’ about a perennial rumour that he had been fronting for Patience Jonathan in operating Air Peace, saying he had “never met” the former Nigerian First Lady in his life. He said he grew up in Warri, but moved to Lagos shortly after graduating from the University of Ibadan and becoming a lawyer in 1989. When he moved to Lagos in 1990, he initially joined a law firm, where he worked for a few years before going into real estate.
It was in real estate that he said he became fortunate from selling lands in Lekki and other priced areas in the Nigerian commercial capital.
“By 2008, I was receiving about 18 per cent interest on my deposits. I was building estates from interest alone,” he told City People.
He said it was in 2008 that he discussed launching Air Peace with his wife, and getting a licence for the airline took several years with exhaustive efforts.
“I brought my finances into it (Air Peace) while getting support from the banks too. When I had gone halfway with the acquisition of my aircraft, I discovered that it was more than I thought. So I borrowed money from the banks. Fidelity Bank is there for anyone who cares to see. I pay the bank daily from sales. It is automatic,” Onyema told the magazine.
Since then, Onyema said Air Peace has become so successful that commercial banks can no longer pass on any opportunity to do business with it, even as he emphasised that the company is wholly owned by him.
“I have integrity and every bank that knows my pedigree like Fidelity would readily do business with me. I equally borrowed from Zenith but not as much as I did with Fidelity. This is how I set up my airline. For the record, I own Air Peace 100 per cent,” he said.
Air Peace has a staff strength of over 3,000, out of which about 2,000 are women. Air Peace Limited in 2013, and by the end of 2018, it had gained the largest share in Nigeria’s domestic air travel, according to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). The airline also recorded tremendous breakthrough in foreign travels, flying to more countries in Asia, Europe and Africa than any other Nigerian commercial flights operator.
Earlier this year, the company announced it was expanding both its fleet and destinations which would include Atlanta and Houston, and effectively asserted its place as a blue-chip entity in the Nigerian aviation industry.
