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ABUJA. – Almost US$9 million stored in tax havens on the English island of Jersey will be returned to Nigeria.

The funds had been confiscated by the Royal Court before a court decided to return them to Abuja.

According to the Jersey court, the money was earmarked for the purchase of weapons and aeronautical equipment between 2009 and 2015 in the fight against Boko Haram.

These sums were eventually diverted to shell companies belonging to members of  (former) President Goodluck Jonathan’s government.

The Economic Crime and Forfeiture Unit of the Jersey Solicitors Department, which worked closely with the Nigerian authorities on this case, praised Abuja’s contribution. 

The date for the restitution of the funds has not yet been chosen, and is to be decided by the government following approval by the Royal Court of Jersey.

It is not the first time that the Jersey authorities have seized money funnelled into the Island from Africa’s most populous nation.

More than US$300 million embezzled by General Sani Abacha and his family and hidden in Jersey bank accounts was repatriated to Nigeria in 2020 following a historic agreement.