LONDON and WASHINGTON – Johnnie Cochran, who became one of the United State’s richest and most famous lawyers when he defended O.J. Simpson, has been hired by the relatives of a Nigerian dictator to halt the recovery of billions of dollars stolen from the government.

The family of General Sani Abacha, who died in 1998 after five years in power, are believed to have offered Mr. Cochran $4.5-million to defend them against a legal action by the Nigerian government.

The government has launched a worldwide search for the up to $8-billion that was systematically plundered from the treasury and deposited in overseas accounts held by Abacha’s friends and family.

Abacha’s eldest son, Mohammed, who hired Mr. Cochran on behalf of him and his family, is in detention in Lagos on charges of involvement in political assassinations.

Mr. Cochran attended his pre-trial hearing last month but has refused to say who hired him.

Rachel Noerdlinger, a New York-based spokeswoman for Mr. Cochran, confirmed that he recently spent four days in Nigeria, where he met Mohammad Abacha and his local defence lawyer.

She denied that Mr. Cochran was employed “directly by anyone within the Abacha family,” but said he had been hired by “friends of Nigeria” whom she declined to name. She admitted, however, that “how or what their relationship is with the Abacha family I do not know.”

The Abacha clan seem strange clients for Mr. Cochran, who was named Trial Lawyer of the Year in 1995 after his successful acquittal of O.J. Simpson on criminal charges. His firm claims to be “dedicated to representing the victims of accidents, fraud, discrimination and other areas of personal damages.”

According to a former Abacha aide, the family was put in touch with Mr. Cochran by Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the religious and secessionist group Nation of Islam.

Mr. Farrakhan was a close friend of Abacha and was an alleged recipient of his largesse, although when asked about this, a spokesman at his Chicago headquarters replied: “It’s none of your business.”

Mr. Cochran’s connection with Mr. Farrakhan was evident during the O.J. trial, when he shocked and angered many observers by being escorted to and from the Los Angeles courthouse by black-suited, bow-tied Nation of Islam bodyguards.

Far from being disheartened by Mr. Cochran’s involvement, the current Nigerian government is apparently delighted. “We want these cases to be as high profile as possible,” said one of the team involved in tracking the stolen funds.

“Mr Cochran’s presence guarantees us CNN airtime and the more people are aware of what went on, the more help and information we should get.”

Swiss lawyers acting for the government are already pressing Britain to freeze accounts believed to contain hundreds of million of dollars held in about 10 banks.

In London, a court case is under way to recover money stolen through a debt buy-back scam perpetrated by Abacha over funds for a steel mill.

Last year, Swiss banks froze more than $900-million of assets held by the Abacha clan, breaking the previous record amount of “dirty money” held in their accounts — the $764-million looted by Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines. Other looted funds have been traced to France, the Lebanon, Jordan, Dubai and Hong Kong. Last week, a further $920-million held in eight separate accounts in Luxembourg was frozen.

Abacha’s family and associates are also believed to own millions of dollars of property in Europe and Nigeria, including the offices rented by British Airways in Lagos.

President Obasanjo’s government has offered amnesty to the looters if the money is returned but, so far, this met little response.

Christina Lamb in London and David Wastell in Washington, The Sunday Telegraph, May 15, 2000