Nigeria deal means UK will return stolen millions deposited in London

TENS of millions of pounds worth of criminal assets stolen in Nigeria will be sent back to West Africa after a landmark agreement intended to help London shed its reputation as a haven for “dirty” money.

The new deal, signed by immigration minister Robert Goodwill and Nigeria’s Attorney General Abubakar Malami, will mean that bank accounts, properties, cars and other goods seized in Britain from Nigerian offenders who have plundered their oil-rich country will all be returned. Many of t he illicit profits are believed to be held in London. The prec i se amount to be returned will depend partly on future convictions, but is expected to amount to at least tens of millions of pounds over the coming years.

The Nigerian government has promised to use the cash to help the countr y ’s poor and improve acce ss to justice. It has also pledged to ensure that returned money does not fall back into criminal hands. The deal follows this summer’s anti-corruption summit in London at which David Cameron described the country as “fantastically corrupt”.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been battling to stamp out corruption since his election last year, responded by calling for Britain to return money held here after being stolen from his country.

He cited the c ase of Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, a former governor of oil-rich Bayelsa state who was detained in London on c h a r ge s o f mone y laundering in 2005, but escaped while on bail by di sgui sing himself as a woman. Mr Buhari said that Alamieyeseigha, who died in Nigeria in October, had left behind his assets and Nigeria wanted them back, along with the profits of other criminals who had property and funds in Britain.

Today’s agreement paves the way for that to happen and follows a visit to Nigeria this week by Mr Goodwill, who said his trip had reinforced the joint determination of Britain and Nigeria to tackle corruption. He added: “This government is committed to attacking criminal finances, making it harder to move, hide and use the proceeds of crime.

“Crime of this sort is not confined to our own borders and it is therefore essential that we work with international partners to tackle it. This agreement spells out how the UK and Nigeria will ensure that criminal finances that h ave b e e n mi s a ppro pr i a t e d f ro m Nigeria will be returned.”

Other cases in which money stolen from Nigeria has been laundered in London include that of James Ibori, a former cashier at a Wickes DIY store in Ruislip who later became governor of the country’s oil-rich Delta State. He was jailed for 13 years at Southwark crown court in 2012 for fraud involving nearly £50 million.

The Commons home affairs select committee warned earlier this year that London “is a centre for money laundering”.