Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) obtained court permission on Monday to temporarily seize 27,000 pounds ($41,000) from former Nigerian oil minister, Diezani Alison Madueke, embroiled in a financial scandal, a court official in London said.
Nigerian authorities confirmed the arrest in London of Diezani Alison-Madueke, who served as oil minister from 2010 until May 2015 under former president Goodluck Jonathan. She was then granted conditional bail and her passport seized.
An administrative officer at Westminster Magistrates’ Court said on Monday the NCA had applied to the court for an order to seize various sums of money in relation to Alison-Madueke and two other women for up to six months. The women were identified as her mother, Beatrice Agama, and another woman, Melanie Spencer. The two women appeared in today’s sitting.
The amount of money frozen was not disclosed.
The administrative officer did not provide any information on the link between Diezani and Melanie Spencer.
The NCA declined any comment on the case.
On Friday, it issued a short statement saying its International Corruption Unit had arrested five people in London as part of an inquiry into suspected bribery and money laundering offences.
The NCA did not name those arrested but said all five had been released on conditional police bail, pending further investigations in Britain and overseas. It said the investigation had started in 2013.
Confirming Alison-Madueke’s arrest, a spokesman for Nigeria’s presidency, Garba Shehu, said late on Sunday: “The government of Nigeria is collaborating with the UK authority in the investigations and her trial.”
He declined to provide details on the charges against her.
Alison-Madueke left office in May after Jonathan was defeated by Muhammadu Buhari. President Buhari has promised to root out corruption in Africa’s biggest economy, where few benefit from Nigeria’s vast oil resources.