UK GOVERNMENT WILL REFUND NEW £6.9 MILLION STOLEN FOR ARMS PURCHASE BY NIGERIAN OFFICIALS

Babatunji Wusu –

The Nigerian government is about to get a new infusion of £6.9 million in foreign exchange.
This is because a UK court ruled that the money, which was thought to be stolen money used for buying weapons, had to be sent back to Nigeria.

The decision follows a forfeiture notice that the Attorney General of Jersey issued to the Royal Court in Jersey in November 2023, according to the BBC.

The restitution of the assets will now be negotiated with the Federal Government after the court determined that the money, which had been deposited in a Jersey bank account, was probably stolen by Nigerian government officials in 2014.

According to reports, the money transfers took the form of official contracts authorized by the government for the procurement of weapons during Boko Haram incursions in Nigeria from 2009 to 2015.

According to the Attorney General’s office, Mark Temple, it is thought that the funds were distributed among the members of the former ruling party during the Nigerian general elections of 2015 and went to their families.

Temple stated that in order to retrieve the property on behalf of the Nigerian people, the Jerseyan administration had collaborated closely with their counterparts in Nigeria.

He said: “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. I now intend to negotiate an asset return agreement with the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”