American missionary Alex Barbir has called on US President Donald Trump to release records relating to a decades-old American investigation involving Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu.
Barbir warned that continued withholding of the documents could make US officials complicit in the deaths of Nigerians if the records contain information relevant to allegations against the Nigerian president.
The missionary made the remarks while urging Trump to make public outstanding records from a 1990s US investigation into a Chicago-area heroin distribution network and a subsequent civil forfeiture case involving funds allegedly linked to Tinubu.
“Tinubu is a heroin trafficker who forfeited thousands of dollars to the US government. Concealing his files from the public makes officials complicit in the killing of Nigerians,” Barbir said.
His comments followed ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation seeking additional records from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and other US government agencies concerning the investigation.
DAILY POST reports that the dispute over the records has renewed public interest in the details of the case and the documents that remain in the custody of US authorities.
A US lobbying firm has also circulated historical US Department of Justice (DOJ) documents relating to the matter to members of the Trump administration and Congress.
Barbir urged the US government to release the outstanding records, arguing that Nigerians have a right to access information relating to allegations arising from a former US investigation involving their country’s political leadership.
The allegations against Tinubu have been disputed, and the existence of records or a forfeiture proceeding does not, by itself, establish criminal liability.
