JPMorgan wins London oil trial in which Nigeria sought $1.7 bln

JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) has won a London High Court battle against Nigeria, which was seeking $1.7 billion in damages over the U.S. bank's role in a disputed 2011 oilfield deal.

JPMorgan said the judgment reflected its commitment to acting with high professional standards everywhere it operates, while Nigeria said it was disappointed and would review the judgment carefully before considering its next steps.

The civil case, which was heard earlier this year, relates to the purchase by Shell (SHEL.L) and Eni (ENI.MI) of Nigeria's OPL 245 offshore oilfield.

Nigeria had alleged JPMorgan was "grossly negligent" in its transfer of funds paid by the energy majors to a company linked to the country's disgraced former oil minister Dan Etete, as per instructions received from Nigerian government officials.

Nigeria now says those officials were party to a fraudulent scheme.

According to Nigeria's legal argument, the transactions put JPMorgan in breach of its Quincecare duty, which obliges banks to disregard a customer's instructions if following those instructions might facilitate a fraud against that customer.

JP Morgan rejected the legal argument, putting the emphasis on its primary duty to comply promptly with payment instructions from its customer, and also contested some of the factual elements put forward by Nigeria.

London High Court Judge Sara Cockerill said in a 137-page ruling issued on Tuesday that no Quincecare breach had occurred.

JPMorgan said the outcome reflected "how we are prepared to robustly defend our actions and reputation when they are called into question".

The Nigerian government said it would continue its fight against fraud and corruption and work to recover funds for the people of Nigeria.

Campaign group Spotlight on Corruption described the ruling as "a huge setback in the fight against corruption", saying it gave a "free pass" to banks who ignored red flags.

The damages sought included cash sent to Etete's company Malabu Oil and Gas, around $875 million paid in three instalments in 2011 and 2013, plus interest, taking the total to over $1.7 billion.

Nigerian military ruler Sani Abacha had awarded licence OPL 245 to a company Etete owned in 1998.

Subsequent Nigerian administrations had challenged Etete's rights to the field over many years until a deal to resolve the impasse via a sale to Shell and Eni was struck in 2011.

The transaction is also at the centre of ongoing legal action in Italy.

By Sinead Cruise and Estelle Shirbon

Reuters

Video - Is Nigeria's security crisis out of control?

 

Two mass shootings in different parts of Nigeria have brought people together in shock and revulsion - and have highlighted a country-wide security crisis. In one attack that horrified people across the country, gunmen killed dozens of congregants at a church in Owo, a town in Ondo state, on June 5. 

No group has claimed responsibility for the assault, but the National Security Council says Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) masterminded it. Reports later emerged that on the same day as the church massacre, gunmen killed at least 32 people in the Kajuru region of the northwestern state of Kaduna, about 350 miles from Owo. President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned "the heinous killing of worshippers" in Owo, while pledging that the government will win its fight against armed groups. But the attacks are just the latest in a series of assaults against communities across Nigeria - north, south, east and west. Murder, kidnapping, and violent robberies have mounted in recent months, including in parts of the country that were once relatively peaceful. 

The federal government and security forces are struggling to tackle a series of overlapping security challenges, including threats from Boko Haram and ISWAP, banditry, separatist groups, and violent conflict between herders and farmers over scarce land and resources. With police forces underfunded and understaffed, some leaders are now asking vigilante groups to guarantee communities’ safety – a development some analysts fear could spur further violence. In this episode of The Stream we'll look at the various security crises that Nigeria is facing, and ask what can be done to improve safety for communities enduring the daily threat of attack.

Video - Nigerian biker rides from London to Lagos for Polio awareness

A Nigerian biker rides from London in the UK to Nigeria's largest city Lagos to raise funds for the polio awareness campaign and eliminating the disease.

Video - Nigerian lender to acquire majority stake in Kenya's Sidian Bank

 

Nigeria’s top lender, Access Bank, will acquire a majority stake in Sidian Bank from Centum Investments for Ksh4.3 billion ($36.8 million), two years after it entered the Kenyan market with the buyout of Transnational Bank.

Gunmen free 11 passengers from Nigerian train attack

Gunmen have released 11 passengers who were abducted during a train attack in northern Nigeria at the end of March, a government minister said, though dozens of others are thought to remain in captivity.

Gbemisola Saraki, the minister of state for transportation, said in a statement late on Saturday that the government was working to ensure all the kidnapped passengers were released.

The freed passengers were taken to a hospital in Abuja. Saraki did not say how and where they were released, or if ransom was paid.

Armed gangs, known locally as bandits, blew up the track on the Abuja-Kaduna route in the north of the country and opened fire on the night train on March 28, killing eight people.

Nigeria's state railway company initially said it could not account for 168 people who according to a passenger log had booked to travel on the train. Most were later traced to their homes, but 65 were confirmed missing.

Video released by the suspected bandits has since shown a number of people in captivity who identified themselves as passengers from the train.

"As grateful as we are for this positive development, we are equally mindful of the anguish of all the victims and their families, who have unfortunately endured and (are) still enduring unimaginable trauma since the tragic incident," Saraki said.

Bandits have killed and abducted hundreds of people for ransom in northern Nigeria, leaving citizens terrified.

Marking Democracy Day on Sunday, President Muhammadu Buhari said Nigerians were worried by rising insecurity, but promised his government was working to contain the situation and ensure a safe and secure general election in early 2023.

"I am living daily with the grief and worry for all those victims and prisoners of terrorism and kidnapping," said Buhari in a televised speech.

Reporting by Garba Muhammad in Kaduna and Felix Onuah in Abuja; Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Jan Harvey 

Reuters

Related stories: Relatives of Nigeria Train Attack Victims Oppose Resumption of Railway Service