N300bn Abacha loot still trapped in London: Paul Ogwuma, ex-CBN gov, going blind - Gwarzo, Abacha's NSA, suffers from Alzheimer

By Our Reporter - 15.02.2008

THERE are indications that over $2.5 billion (N300 billion) of the loot stashed away by former dictator, General Sani Abacha, may have been trapped in London.

Sources quoted by pointblanknews.com, an online news agency, are citing the reluctance of the Nigerian authorities in pressing charges against leading members of the Abacha family and remnants of the Abacha junta who played active roles in ferrying the stolen money to Britain.

According to a report contained in a 2007 edition of Business Law Report of London and quoted by the agency, questions were raised as to the propriety of assisting Nigeria to recover and repatriate its stolen wealth in view of the fact that Britain had not enjoyed unqualified support from successive administration in Nigeria to use existing bilateral protocols to extradite accused persons to the United Kingdom.

International law experts, in relation to rules and regulations governing fraud and money laundering, explained to pointblanknews.com that the onus rested on the authorities in Nigeria to cooperate with the Government of Great Britain to ensure that notable members of the Abacha family were extradited to London and prosecuted so that the estimated $2.5 billion now in the possession of the British government could be returned to Nigeria. “It is hard to just say that that money should be returned to Nigeria without following due process,” said one of the experts. So far, Nigeria has recovered over $1.3 billion (about N156 billion) from various secret accounts in several countries as part of the money allegedly stolen by Abacha.

Tales of loot recovery from the family of Abacha abound. Not too long ago, a building on Sani Abacha Way, Kano, was said to have been discovered in Kano State, home town of the Abachas. The building was said to have been used to warehouse money in different foreign currencies.

After the alarm was raised about the money, unknown persons were said to have cleared the warehouse and no trace was left. Yakubu Manfred Isah, a man who had worked as a guard at the Abacha building, was arrested and over N30 million, exotic cars, trucks and luxury buses were allegedly recovered from him. Meanwhile, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during the regime of Abacha, Mr. Paul Ogwuma, is reported to be suffering from an eye problem which has made him almost blind in the United Kingdom.

Also, Abacha’s National Security Adviser, Ismaila Gwarzo, who has since been living in the United Kingdom, is reportedly suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.