Nigeria will receive some of its stolen assets believed to be worth £6.9m ($8.9m). This is following the verdict of an American court, which ruled that the source of the funds is ambiguous and believed to have been looted. Negotiations with the Nigerian government would precede the return of the stolen loot.
According to a report by the BBC, funds valued at £6.9 million ($8.9 million) were looted from Nigeria’s coffers and deposited in a Jersey bank in 2014. The crime is said to have been perpetrated by some members of the Nigerian government at the time.
“The transfer of money was disguised as government-sanctioned contracts for arms purchases during incursions by Boko Haram in Nigeria between 2009 and 2015,” the BBC report reads in part.
According to the report, Jersey’s government disclosed that the fund, which was originally intended for legitimate arms deals was rerouted via “foreign bank accounts to and from shell companies.”
Based on the statement from the office of the Attorney General, the money was thought to have gone to family members of the administration in question and was distributed among its party members during the 2015 Nigerian general elections.
Representing the Nigerian people’s interest, the Nigerian government has been working closely with Jersey officials to retrieve the stolen property, as disclosed by Mark Temple KC, His Majesty's Attorney General.
"This case again demonstrates the effectiveness of the 2018 Forfeiture Law in recovering the proceeds of corruption and restoring that money to victims of crime,” the Attorney General stated,
"I now intend to negotiate an asset return agreement with the Federal Republic of Nigeria," he added.
By Chinedu Okafor, Business Insider Africa
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