UK Crime Agency Reveals New Details On Diezani’s Arrest

The UK National Crime Agency has said that the sum £27,000 (N9,180,000) seized from the former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was by no means related to her arrest.

Diezani Alison-Madueke was detained and released in London on Friday, October 2.

The UK crime agency made this known via an electronic mail made available to Vanguard in Abuja on Tuesday, October 6.

READ ALSO: Top 5 Reasons For Diezani’s Arrest

According to the email,  ‘smaller sums’ were also seized from two other individuals, aside from the £27,000 recovered from the former minister.

However, the agency declined to reveal the names of the others from whom the sums were collected, noting that “it does not confirm the identities of individuals it arrests, unless there was specific operational requirement to do so.”

There was no mention of when the Nigerians, who are now on bail in the UK, would be formally charged for money laundering and bribery, although it is speculated that as soon as the agency completes its investigation the former petroleum minister will be charged.

READ ALSO: UPDATE: Diezani Alison-Madueke Released On Bail, To Be Questioned On Monday

On Monday, October 5, there were media reports stating that a Westminster magistrate’s court granted the UK’s National Crime Agency an application for the seizure of the equivalent of over N9 million from Alison-Madueke.

The seizure was reportedly granted under Section 295 of Proceeds of Crime Act 2012. The said money would be held in the custody of the court until April 5, 2016.

The Sun UK also reported that Diezani Alison-Madueke was apprehended over a huge £13 billion (N3.9 trillion) real estate transaction.

The newspaper claimed Diezani was caught trying to buy a massively expensive apartment at One Hyde Park.

Meanwhile, the Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has said he does not see anything surprising in the last week’s arrest of Nigeria’s former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Oshiomhole said on Tuesday, October 6, that the development did not come as a shock, in that he is fully aware that under Goodluck Jonathan’s rule the Nigerian economy suffered bad mismanagement.

In an interview with journalists after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock, the governor made his position known:

“For me, I don’t think anybody should be surprised (about Alison-Madueke’s trial in the UK) because even the most favourable commentator on the Nigerian condition, the economy, the polity and the society, agrees that our economy was badly mismanaged over the years. I have not seen one commentator that disagrees.“

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