Ibori Loot: UK signs agreement with Nigeria to return £4.2m

The United Kingdom has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Government to return the sum of £4.2 million being part (first tranche) of stolen assets recovered from the former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, and his associates.

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria Catriona Laing announced this on Tuesday at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Justice in Abuja.

Laing said the money was recovered from friends and family members of the former Delta State governor.

She said the habit of siphoning money from Nigeria to the UK has affected the level of trust between the two countries.

Laing, however, warned that the UK will no longer be used as a destination for looters to siphon proceeds of crimes.

The Nigerian Government had said the recovered loots would be used to fund the Lagos-Ibadan road, Abuja-Kano road, and the second Niger Bridge.

Ibori was governor of Delta State in the South South region of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007. He was jailed in the UK for fraud in 2012 and had since served his time and returned to Nigeria.