Ibori loot: UK government set to return £4.2m to Nigeria
- The UK government has said that it would return £4.2m to the Nigerian government
- Former governor of Delta, James Ibori, was said to have stolen the money when he was the number one citizen of the state
- Catriona Laing, the British high commissioner to Nigeria, made this known in Abuja, on Tuesday, March 9
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The United Kingdom has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to return the sum of £4.2 million of stolen assets by the former Delta state governor, James Ibori.
Channels TV reports that this was announced on Tuesday, March 9, by the British high commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Legit.ng gathered that Laing at the signing of 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.
Source: Twitter
She, however, frowned that many Nigerians were in the habit of siphoning money from the country to the UK, saying that the habit has also affected the level of trust between the two countries.
Laing warned that the UK would no longer be used as a destination for looters to siphon proceeds of crimes.
The recovered funds, according to the federal government, would be used to fund the Lagos-Ibadan road, Abuja-Kano road, and the second Niger Bridge.
The report noted that the attorney-general and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami, who signed for the country, disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the returned loots be deployed to completion of the second Niger Bridge, the Lagos to Ibadan express way and the Abuja to Kano express way projects.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Ibori and his mistress and conspirator, Udoamaka Onuigbo, appeared in a UK court on Thursday, August 27, 2020, via video link as the confiscation hearing of assets he allegedly stole began.
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It was reported that in 2012, Ibori was sentenced to 13 years in jail after he pleaded guilty to money laundering and begged Judge Anthony Pitts for leniency.
He has since served his term and has returned to Nigeria where he remains among the power brokers in Delta state.
The prosecutors from the London Metropolitan police found that Ibori used the money he stole from Delta state to buy six houses in London. He paid £2.2 million in cash for one of those mansions in tony Hampstead.
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Wale Akinola is a passionate journalist and researcher. He works as a senior political/current affairs editor at Legit.ng. He holds both B.A and Master’s degree in Communications and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan. He also holds a Diploma Certificate in Peace Journalism. He has over 15 years of work experience in both print and online media. He derives joy in keeping the public abreast of current happenings locally and internationally through his writings.
Source: Legit.ng
