By Abiola Olawale
Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, a former Nigerian minister of foreign affairs, on Thursday, raised questions on the role of the security agencies in the invasion of the United States of America’s Capitol building on January 6, 2021 by pro-Trump rioters.
The elder-statesman said there was a conspiracy theory concerning the invasion.
Akinyemi said this in an interview on ‘thruMY eyes’, a programme that runs commentary on various international events, monitored by The New Diplomat. He said following the incident that happened after the invasion of the US capitol, the integrity of the security agencies needs to be questioned.
The retired diplomat further said the Service Chiefs in the US should release a statement on how the invasion of the Capitol happened without any intelligence suspecting it.
He also added that the security agencies saw the invasion of the Capitol as business as usual, following the fact that no arrest has been made concerning the event.
He said, “I think there is a conspiracy at the top. All the service Chiefs in US should issue a statement on the invasion of the Capitol. The invasion shouldn’t have happened. There is going to be a need for clearing out at the top of those involved in the security sector.”
Akinyemi, while reacting to the impeachment of President Donald Trump by the U.S House of Representatives, Wednesday, said “For the rest of his life and after his death, Trump is going to go down as the first US President to be impeached twice. Before Trump, only two US president has been impeached and they were impeached once each.”
Akinyemi further stated that the impeachment of Trump is a welcome development. Although, he doubts that the impeachment process will be completed before the end of his tenure.
He also said he is suprised that some Republicans voted against the impeachment of Trump even though their lives were endangered during the invasion of the Capitol.
“I am surprised that 117 Republicans voted against Trump’s impeachment. It shows the rot that has gone deep into the party. They failed to vote for Trump’s impeachment even though their lives were in danger during the invasion of the Capitol”, Akinyemi said.
It would be recalled that Akinyemi, 79, is a former Nigerian Minister of foreign affairs. He is a professor of International Relations. Akinyemi was also Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) from 1975 until 1983.
