FG - looted £300m trapped in UK

The Minister of Foreign Af­fairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, has given insights into why Ni­geria’s £300 million stashed in Jersey Island in the United King­dom (UK) has not been repatriated to the country.
At a media dialogue on the one-year an­niversary of President Muhammadu Bu­hari’s administration on foreign affairs per­spective, he said the Federal Government remains committed to fighting corruption in the country.

According to him, the Jersey authorities have decided to follow a legal procedure in repatriating the stolen funds, adding that the government is work­ing with them on the issue.
e said: “The Jersey Island is not in the US but in the coast of UK. The money has been identified and we are in the process of re­patriating them but sometimes, what hap­pens very often is that the people who claim to be in custody of the money might bring up a defence.
“The authorities in Jersey obliged us to go ahead and repatriate through certain legal procedures; the other party has lawyers and there are legal issues.”
“We are now ad­dressing that so it is going to be painful and it will take a slow process. The important thing is that the pro­cess has been engaged there is no going back and there will be no re­lenting”, he said.
He hinted that repa­triation of funds is not an easy exercise, add­ing that there are pro­cesses to undergo to get it done.
“Repatriation of sto­len fund is something that takes time. It is a work in progress but so far there is a number of processes you have to go through before you get it done. You have to identify and know how to get the money from them.