From Segun Amure, (The New Diplomat’s Abuja Bureau)
The United Kingdom on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to return the sum of £4.2 million assets said to have been stolen by former Delta State Governor, James Ibori to Nigeria.
This was disclosed by the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing in Abuja.
Laing, while signing the MoU at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Justice said the money was recovered from friends and family members of the former governor.
She lamented that many Nigerians were in the habit of siphoning money from the country to the UK, saying that has also affected the level of trust between the two countries.
Laing, however, warned that the UK will no longer be used as a destination for looters to siphon proceeds of crimes.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami said the recovery of the stolen fund is part of the efforts of the current administration to fight corruption.
He said that the money will be used for the construction of the second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano road, and Lagos-Ibadan Express road.
The £4.2million is to be returned two weeks from now.
Recall that Ex-Delta State Governor, James Ibori’s corruption charges began with the filling of petitions by his kinsmen under the auspices of Delta State Elders and Stakeholders Forum influenced by the foremost Ijaw leader, Chief E. K. Clark , OFR, CON who was also the former Minister of Information.
In 2007, the Metropolitan Police raided the London offices of barrister Bhadresh Gohil. Hidden in a wall behind a fireplace, they found computer hard drives containing details of a myriad of off-shore companies run for Ibori by Gohil, fiduciary agent Daniel Benedict McCann, and corporate financier Lambertus De Boer.
As a result of these corruption allegations, the United Kingdom courts froze Ibori’s assets, valued at about £17 million ($35 million), in early August 2007.
Also, Ibori’s wife, Nkoyo, was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London on 1 November 2007, in connection with the probe of her husband’s assets, particularly in the United Kingdom.
