The Government of Jersey had ordered the forfeiture of £1.9 million (about N1.5 billion) from Jeremiah Useni, a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory. 

On Thursday, Jersey’s Attorney General, Mark Temple, noted that Mr Useni’s accounts had been created to hold and conceal bribes given to him while he served in the Abacha regime. 

“On 28 May 2021, Her Majesty’s Attorney General served a forfeiture notice under Article 10 (1) of the Forfeiture of Assets (Civil Proceedings) (Jersey) Law 2018 on Lieutenant General Jeremiah Timbut Useni (Retired) seeking the forfeiture of approximately £1.9 million deposited into Jersey numbered bank accounts in a false identity between 1989 and the late 1990s. After today (19 May), the Royal Court granted the Attorney General’s application to forfeit the funds,” the government of Jersey said. 

Mr Useni had served as a Lieutenant General in the Nigerian Army and as the Minister for the Federal Capital Territory under military dictator Sani Abacha. He then served as a senator representing Plateau South in the Senate between 2015 and 2019.

Mr Temple said negotiations will be had with the Nigerian Government about how to return these forfeited assets to the country.

However, he noted the framework that currently caters to the return of monies linked to the Abacha regime, “with the Governments of Nigeria and the United States in relation to the return of over US$300 million of the assets of Doraville Properties Corporation.”

The Attorney General said the British Island has “robust and effective legislation which in appropriate cases will be used to forfeit monies associated with corruption summarily and ensure that such funds are returned for the benefit of the people who have suffered from its effects.”