Former Attorney-General Of Kogi State Along With Another Suspect Arrested In UK In Connection With £20m(N5.12b)Abacha Loot.

The last is yet to be heard about looted funds traced to ex- Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, as £20m(N5.12billion) laundered through some lawyers in Britain is being probed.Two suspects, including a former Attorney-General of Kogi State, have been arrested in London in connection with the lootThe two suspects, who were trying to convert a 1994 CBN Traveller’s Cheque worth £2,000 at Travelex are undergoing interrogation in London.Upon a search in the suspects’ hotel in London, it was gathered, about £78,000 traveller’s cheque was found on them.There were indications that the UK Police may invoke the Mutual Legal Assistance to seek the extradition of Mohammed Sanni, who is allegedly linked to the probe.A source said: “The arrest of two Nigerian suspects (including a former Attorney-General of Kogi State) has triggered the latest round of investigation“With the £20million loot in their care, they decided to test the waters with £80,000. So, the two suspects took £2,000 Traveller’s Cheque purchased by the CBN in 1994 to Travelex to get some cash but the desk officers were suspicious because of the time frame.“The attendants alerted security agencies who arrested the suspects and later searched their hotel rooms where additional £78,000 worth of traveler’s cheque was found.

“The security agencies are working on the suspicion that the suspects were on a laundering mission in the UK as part of moves to repatriate the alleged £20million stashed by the late Head of State.”The Press Bureau of the Metropolitan Police last night said: “We have contacted officers to get any details of this incident. We will reply in due course as and when we have them.”The Abachas were alleged to have laundered about $3billion cash.The Federal Government has so far recovered more than $2.550billion.

The government is trying to trace the whereabouts of $450million hidden in many countries.A Federal Government counsel on repatriation of Abacha loot, Mr. Tim Daniel, had said about $2.550billion of $3billion had been so far recovered by the Federal Government from the late Abacha’s accounts and his family.He gave the breakdown as follows: voluntary surrender ($750m); Switzerland ($570m); Jersey ($380m); UK($150m); Luxembourg ($300m); and Liechtenstein ($400m).A few months after the 13th year anniversary of Abacha’s death, the Federal Government recovered£22.5m (N6.18billion) loot which the late Head of State, allegedly stashed in Jersey.The £20million being investigated is alleged to be part of the outstanding $450million

UK visa: Nigerians To Begin Payment Of £3,000 Bond in November.

OUTCRY against its £3,000 tourists visa bond notwithstanding, Britain will commence the scheme in the six listed Commonwealth countries in November,Financial Times report quoted the Home Office as saying.The Commonwealth countries to be affected by the policy which was announced in June are Nigeria, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.The affected countries are considered to be source of “high risk” tourists to the UK.Some visitors from the six countries, under the scheme, will be asked to pay a £3,000 cash bond in return for visitor visas that allow them to stay in the UK for up to six months.According to official data, these six countries accounted for more than half a million visa applications in 2012.There have been outpours of anger by governments of the affected countries, especially Nigeria and India against the policy.A protest in India last month forced the British Prime Minister David Cameron to declare that final decision had not been taken on the policy, while the Nigerian government asked Britain to renounce the scheme.The Federal Government, through the Foreign Affairs minister, Olugbenga Ashiru,  had in June expressed “the strong displeasure of the government and people of Nigeria” over the “discriminatory” policy.Ashiru warned British High Commissioner Andrew Pocock at a meeting in the minister’s office in Abuja, barely 24 hours after the policy was announced, that the move would “definitely negate” the two country’s commitment to double trade by 2014.The minister told the British diplomat that Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, had “a responsibility to take appropriate measures to protect the interest of Nigerians who may be affected by the proposed policy, if finally introduced.”The British High Commission in Nigeria after the meeting issued a statement quoting Pocock as saying that his government planned to undertake “a very small scale trial of the use of financial bonds as a way of tackling abuse in the immigration system (which occurs when some people overstay their visa terms).”He said that the details of the pilot scheme were still being worked out and if it goes ahead in Nigeria, it would affect only a very small number of the “highest risk” visitors.“The vast majority would not be required to pay a bond. Those paying bonds would receive the bond back, if they abided by the terms of their visa,” he said.More than 180, 000 Nigerians apply to visit Britain each year and about 70 percent or around 125, 000 of these applicants are successful, he said.A Home Office official said the six countries highlighted were those with “the most significant risk of abuse”

The Home Office said on Friday that only individuals deemed “high-risk” would be asked to pay the bond. But some officials admits that the mere mention of a bond would be enough to deter visitors.

 “In the long run, we are interested in a system of bonds that deters overstaying and recovers costs if a foreign national has used our public services,” an unnamed Home Office official said.

Ashiru said on Sunday that the UK embassy had not communicated to his office the plan to commence the bond scheme.

““They have not communicated with me,” the minister said when The PUNCH sought his reaction to the latest development.

In the UK, luxury goods retailers have denounced the plan as an “insulting deterrent” to wealthy tourists, which will hit sales and damage London’s reputation.

They are urging the government to drop the pilot, saying the restrictions will damage their business if Commonwealth tourists – particularly Nigerians, now the sixth biggest spenders on luxury goods in the UK – are put off.

“It’s embarrassing that our country would consider these measures against visitors who spend so much in our stores,” Managing Director of Harrods, Michael Ward, said .

“There seems to be a deeply frustrating attitude in Westminster that they should do whatever they can to actively prevent people coming to the UK,” Ward added.

Harrods is reputed to be the biggest department store in Europe, occupying a five-acre site in the royal precinct in London.

Culled from The Punch.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Dead At 85.

Margaret Thatcher served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, and in many ways revolutionized the political landscape of not only Britain, but of the entire world. The tough talking Thatcher earned the nickname “Iron Lady” during her time in office.
Thatcher had, in recent years, fallen victim to demensia and became too frail to leave her bed around 2008. Her children and grandchildren were all present as she died.She died of stroke this morning.
A monumental service is planned for next week; it is expected to be the largest such ceremony since Princess Di died in August of 1997.