Immigration Minister signs agreement with Nigeria on returning stolen criminal assets

Criminal assets stolen in Nigeria and seized in
the UK are to be returned to the West African
country through a new agreement signed this
week.
The deal was signed by Immigration Minister
Robert Goodwill and Nigerian Attorney General
Abubakar Malami.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed
as part of a 2 day visit to the African country
by the Immigration Minister last week (Tuesday
30 and Wednesday 31 August). It reinforces the
2 countries’ commitments to continuing
cooperation and mutual support in returning the
seized proceeds of bribery or corruption in a
responsible and transparent way.
Immigration Minister Robert Goodwill said:
This government is committed to
attacking criminal finances, making it
harder to move, hide and use the
proceeds of crime. Between April 2010
and March 2016, we seized a total of
£1.2 billion from criminals, with more
assets recovered in 2015 to 2016 than
ever before.
Crime of this sort is not confined to our
own borders and it is therefore essential
that we work with international partners
to tackle it. This agreement spells out
how the UK and Nigeria will ensure that
criminal finances that have been
misappropriated from Nigeria will be
returned for the benefit of the Nigerian
people.
The Memorandum of Understanding makes
clear that both countries are committed to
ensuring that returned money should not be
allowed to get back into the hands of criminals.
As part of the agreement, the Nigerian
government has also pledged to use any
returned funds for projects that will benefit the
poorest members of society and improve access
to justice for all Nigerians.
The UK has been a driving force in bringing
countries together to tackle serious and
organised crime. Earlier this year, it created the
Global Forum for Asset Recovery which will
bring together governments – including Nigeria -
and law enforcement agencies to work to
recover stolen assets. Domestically, as outlined
in this year’s Queen’s speech, a Criminal
Finance Bill will be introduced to Parliament
which will allow the government to recoup more
criminal assets by reforming the law on
proceeds of crime. Source,