US activist Ogebe urges UK not to hand money back to relooters
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
A A Nigerian rights activist based in the United States has urged the United Kingdom not to hand over recovered Sani Abacha loot directly to the Nigerian government, whose official will steal it, but rather tie it to compensating the victims of state terror.
He cited victims of EndSARS victims who need to be compensated and other human index endeavours for which such money should be spent, citing examples in Chad and Kenya where the UK has done this in the past.
Emmanuel Ogebe, Managing Partner at US Nigeria Law Group (USNLG), Washington made the suggestions in a letter he wrote to the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laign, a copy of which he sent to TheNiche.
The letter is reproduced below:
Compensation for EndSARS victims
Your Excellency Catriona Laing,
Greetings from Washington and trusting you are well.
Though our scheduled meeting with a visiting UK humanitarian delegation didn’t hold in Nigeria in February, I am taking the extraordinary step of writing to you directly concerning a matter of grave concern to me as it pertains to US-UK-Nigeria affairs.
The US has plans to turn over millions of Euros, in infamous Abacha loot originally frozen in the UK, to the family that helped launder it abroad.
This offends against every notion of propriety, justice, fairness and common decency especially for victims of Abacha’s evil rule – thousands of whom were exiled to the UK and the US.
I would suggest much rather that some of these funds should go to such victims and, especially as we mark the second anniversary of the dreadful #EndSARs Lekki massacre of October 20, 2020 recent victims of that as well.
As you know, the historical colonial legacy of the UK has come under global scrutiny following the recent demise of your revered monarch.
Much as there is much to be said for colonial rule’s repercussions in some of Nigeria’s present political doldrums, the fact is that the #EndSARs massacres of 2020 by the [Muhammadu] Buhari regime exceeded the colonial era atrocities of the Aba women’s riot or the Labor protest killings in their mindless horror.
That said, the UK did train the SARS that have been culpable in horrific contemporary human rights abuses.
I urge therefore that the UK recommend that €1,000,000 each be given for distribution as compensation to victims identified by the various Judicial Commissions of Inquiry across each of the states of Nigeria.
In addition to that, I am pleased to learn about the reported success story of a UK aid project with forfeiture assets:
Recovered corruption money provides ‘life-saving support’ to 150,000 vulnerable people
Harry Cassin
June 27, 2022
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Related articles:
US returns $335m Abacha heist, decries graft
Foreign countries return £6.32m stolen from Nigeria
Jersey to return to Nigeria £1.9m stolen by Jeremiah Useni
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UK examples in Chad, Kenya
In 2018, the UK Serious Fraud Office recovered £4.4 million ($6.2 million) from two Chadian diplomats who took bribes from Canadian oil company Griffiths Energy in the U.S and Canada.
The recovered money was transferred to Chad and used in aid and development programs. What was the money used for and did it make a difference?
At the time of the settlement, the SFO said the funds would be transferred to the Department for International Development (DFID), which would identify key projects to invest in that would benefit the poorest people in Chad.
It was the first time in the UK that money was returned overseas through a civil recovery case.
What was the result?
In a November 2021 report, UK Minister for Africa Vicky Ford said the returned proceeds of corruption have provided “life-saving support to more than 150,000 vulnerable people in Chad.
It’s astonishing that 150,000 people had improved access to food, medicine, and disease treatment from what – by our industry’s scale – was a pocket-change settlement.
As far as we know, the UK was the only country to deploy any of the settlement to foreign aid. It wasn’t the first time, either.
The SFO used money from a confiscation order against executives at Smith & Ouzman convicted of bribery in 2016 to buy seven new ambulances in Kenya.
Model for other situations
The United Kingdom and SFO’s approach could be a three-step model for others to follow:
- Confiscate profits from corrupt deals.
- Coordinate with outside and well established aid organizations.
- Track and report progress publicly.
- If you wanted to market it: Confiscate, Coordinate, Celebrate.
I look forward to seeing a similar replication in direct demonstrable development assistance to the Nigerian people with these funds rather than through the corrupt conduit of the Nigerian government and the for-profit NGO industrial complex.
I note that you recently visited Governor [Abubakar] Bagudu [of Kebi State].
With him as deputy interim head of the Governor’s Forum, it is hoped that providing €36 million to SARS victims, to supplement and support compensation provided by Nigeria’s states, would be a welcome idea.
I thank you for your kind attention to this urgent matter and look forward to an opportunity to explain this in detail.
Sincerely,
Emmanuel Ogebe