A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), said the Federal Government had given him and a consortium of lawyers the go ahead to start legal proceedings against foreign banks that colluded with Nigerian officials to loot the nation’s treasury.
Specifically, banks which warehoused money recovered from the estate of the former military dictator, the late Gen. Sani Abacha and a former governor of Delta State, Mr. James Ibori and others are being targeted.
Falana revealed this at the end of a two-day training workshop on anti-corruption monitoring and reporting, organised by the Human Environmental Development Agenda Resource Centre, in Abuja, on Thursday.
He explained that foreign banks would be taken to court and made to pay damages to Nigeria for the role they played in the illegal repatriation of our common patrimony.
According to him, it would be unjust to allow the banks to return a fraction of the principal amount stolen from Nigeria after keeping such funds for up to 20 years without compensating the people from which these funds were stolen from.
Falana said, “I belong to a team of international lawyers, we were able to squeeze a fiat from the Attorney General, we worked on it for one and half years and what were we doing? We are telling the banks – don’t forget Transparency International, it takes two to tango.
“If you have not warehoused the stolen money from here nobody will take the money there, we have got a fait to sue all the banks abroad that warehoused loot from Abacha, Ibori and others because, you can’t just return part of the principal, you must pay damages because this money was meant to construct roads and hospitals.
“If you collected the money and put it in your bank for 16 to 20 years you must come and pay damages, we have started on that.”
Specifically, banks which warehoused money recovered from the estate of the former military dictator, the late Gen. Sani Abacha and a former governor of Delta State, Mr. James Ibori and others are being targeted.
Falana revealed this at the end of a two-day training workshop on anti-corruption monitoring and reporting, organised by the Human Environmental Development Agenda Resource Centre, in Abuja, on Thursday.
He explained that foreign banks would be taken to court and made to pay damages to Nigeria for the role they played in the illegal repatriation of our common patrimony.
According to him, it would be unjust to allow the banks to return a fraction of the principal amount stolen from Nigeria after keeping such funds for up to 20 years without compensating the people from which these funds were stolen from.
Falana said, “I belong to a team of international lawyers, we were able to squeeze a fiat from the Attorney General, we worked on it for one and half years and what were we doing? We are telling the banks – don’t forget Transparency International, it takes two to tango.
“If you have not warehoused the stolen money from here nobody will take the money there, we have got a fait to sue all the banks abroad that warehoused loot from Abacha, Ibori and others because, you can’t just return part of the principal, you must pay damages because this money was meant to construct roads and hospitals.
“If you collected the money and put it in your bank for 16 to 20 years you must come and pay damages, we have started on that.”
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