Britain returns £70m of Nigerian money seized by a convicted fraudster as part of its anti-corruption help

BRITAIN has recently returned a sum of £70m seized from a Nigeria fraudster after he was convicted of theft by an Italian court as part of London's ongoing commitment to help with the war against corruption.

Traditionally, being Nigeria's former colonial master, Britain has always been one of the favourite destinations for looted government funds. Of late, however, London has started becoming cooperative, arresting and trying Nigerian politicians who bring money into the UK and returned seized funds that have been confiscated.

Yesterday, Paul Arkwright, the British high commissioner to Nigeria revealed that there has been another successful handing over of seized money. Although he did not name the convicted person involved, Mr Arkwright said the sum of £70m was recovered from a Nigerian who had been convicted of fraud in an Italian court.

He added:  “There was an Italian court case with a particular person involved. A portion of the funds have been in the UK and that was the portion that was returned recently from the UK to Nigeria.”

“The British government has no intention of keeping one kobo of Nigerian funds in the UK, it all must come back to Nigeria. Just as in Nigeria, the UK feels that the judicial process is important and we have to go through those processes before the money can be returned.”