Britain has returned to Nigeria some of the money seized by London police from the former governor of Plateau State and says more seized money will follow, reports BBC online Thursday.
Joshua Dariye was arrested in London in 2004 but skipped bail to return home.
The Acting British High Commissioner to Nigeria, James Tansley, handed over two cheques totalling more than 250.000 US dollar (1,3 mio. DKR).
The Metropolitan police stated, that “the two cheques now returned to Nigeria are just the cash seized from Dariye on his arrest (altså hvad han lige havde på sig)”.
Successive Nigerian leaders have made tackling graft (grov ulovlig tilranen) a top priority, but few senior officials have been convicted.
The Metropolitan Police say it is only a fraction of the fortune that Mr Dariye and other Nigerian officials had diverted to London. A further 2,8 million dollar of his assets have been frozen by court order and are awaiting repatriation to Nigeria.
In all, Mr Dariye faces charges of stealing some 128 million dollar (svimlende 678 mio. DKR) from Plateau State during his tenure as governor from 1997-2007.
His official earnings were only 80.000 dollar a year, yet police in London say he accumulated property and assets worth millions, much of it from state funds which were intended to provide drinking water to villages.
