The
UK government is to return an additional 6.8 million pounds of the
confiscated loot of former Delta Governor, James Ibori, to Nigeria.
Rupert
Broad, UK Metropolitan Police Senior Investigator, disclosed this in
London on Tuesday at a meeting on “Supporting Policing in Nigeria: What
Role for Police in the Nigerian Diaspora” held in the House of Commons.
While
speaking on UK and Nigeria’s anti-corruption partnership, Broad said
“out of the eight million pounds confiscated from Ibori, 1.2 million
pounds had so far been retuned to Nigeria, while the rest was waiting
for redistribution as to when it would be sent back to Nigeria.”
He
also said that an additional 80 million pounds had been temporarily
confiscated from Ibori and his associates, including Patrice Gohil, one
of his lawyers.
“Approximately, 80 million pounds is temporarily
frozen and a confiscation hearing has been fixed for April 2015, where
the judge will determine how much was stolen, after which it would be
returned to Nigeria.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls
that the British Southcrown Court in April 2012 sentenced Ibori to
13 years jail term for fraud and money laundering.
Broad, who
attributed the success of the Ibori case to partnership with the
nation’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC), said “the
case signified Nigeria’s commitment to the fight corruption.
“In light of the Ibori case, Nigeria has done a fantastic job in tackling corruption.
“Corruption
does not go away easily, addressing it requires continuous process and
the UK Metropolitan Police will continue to collaborate with Nigerian
authorities on cross border international investigation.”
Similarly,
Nsikan Etuk, the Director of the UK Nigeria Police Forum, said that the
diaspora was a powerful tool for the reformation of the nation’s police
force.
Etuk, who spoke on “Supporting Policing in Nigeria”,
expressed the commitment of the Forum in collaborating with government
in tackling challenges impeding efficiency in policing in the country.
He
said that the Forum, whose membership included serving and retired
police personnel, was established following challenges facing the
Nigerian community in the UK.
In the same vein, Kunle Bamgbose,
the Nigerian Deputy High Commissioner to the UK, said the nation’s
police officers were among the brightest in Africa, adding that they
were only impeded by operational challenges.
He said “inadequate
equipment such as communication gadgets, the lack of efficient forensic
laboratories and other logistic problems are some of the challenges
facing the police force.”
Bamgbose, however, said “it is difficult to impose UK policing culture in Nigeria because the environments are different.”
According to him, partnership in training and capacity building of officers will be an ideal area of collaboration.
The
meeting, which had participants from the Nigerian community, was
chaired by Meg Hillier, the Chair of the UK All Party Parliamentary
Group on Nigeria.
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