British Jubilee 2000 is pressuring banks in the UK to freeze and help return an estimated 55 bln USD in ill-gotten gains placed abroad by Nigerians.

British Jubilee 2000, a global non-governmental organisation is pressuring banks in the UK to freeze and help return an estimated 55 bln USD in ill-gotten gains placed abroad by Nigerians, Adrian Lovett, an official of the group, told Nigeria’s Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

“The Coalition is pressurizing such financial institutions to freeze and release the looted funds, which rightly belongs to Nigerians,” Lovett said.

Responding, Abubakar said he is soliciting the international community’s assistance in solving Nigeria’s debt burden and complementing efforts by the new government “to retrieve all stolen money stashed away by its citizens in foreign banks”.

He said President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government, inaugurated May 29, had already recovered some of the stolen money and was gathering information to recover more.

AP, July 1, 1999