The Nigerian government has obtained a temporary relief after a U.S. court approved its request to depose Louis Emovbira William, a businessman, who said he was wrongfully tortured by the State Security Service and imprisoned in 1986 and obtained a court order to seize $21 million as compensation from Nigeria’s JP Morgan account.

Justice Lewis Liman of the U.S. Court of the Southern District of New York on October 8 granted Nigeria’s request to depose Mr Williams to answer pertinent questions about the events that led to his ordeal with the SSS in the 1980s.

However, the judge issued a deadline for Nigeria to conduct the deposition, given Mr William’s health, which had become frail over the years. 

“In order to preserve plaintiff’s testimony and evidence in light of his physical condition and health, defendants shall serve requests for the production of documents on plaintiff no later than October 22, 2024,” Mr Liman ruled on October 8.

“Plaintiff shall respond to defendants’ requests for production no later than November 5, 2024,” the judge added, ruling that the deposition must not exceed December 20.

The attorney general of the federation, Central Bank of Nigeria and JP Morgan were listed as defendants in the case.

The parties, including the plaintiff, reached a decision to conduct the deposition in London for 12 hours over a period of three days, taking into consideration Mr Williams’ ailing health.

The deposition is scheduled to be held in London between December 17 and 19, a day before the court’s deadline.

“The parties have agreed to a 12-hour time limit for testimony at the deposition so that we are able to accommodate plaintiff’s health issue,” Fred Wexler of Brown Gavalas & Fromm law firm informed the court on October 11.

Mr Williams’ deposition will be videotaped and attended by a court reporter. Also, persons who intend to appear remotely will be allowed to do so.

Deposition costs for the court reporter and videographer responsible for organising the video conference will be shared by all parties, Mr Wexler stated.

The concerned parties agreed to pay for their travel and accommodation costs in the UK.

Mr Williams, a UK-Nigerian businessman, said he was scammed by the Nigerian government of $6.5 million over a food importation deal that went south.

The businessman said all efforts to retrieve the funds failed and that he was tortured by the SSS when he travelled down to Nigeria to get his money back.

Instead, he was hastily tried for “economic sabotage” and received a 10-year jail term in 1986.

He escaped from prison in 1989, and former military dictator Ibrahim Babangida gave him a presidential pardon and a Fidelity Guarantee contract with an award of $6.5 million at 17 per cent compound interest on a rollover basis from 1986 — the year he was imprisoned.

CBN’s foot-dragging to release the funds caused the case to linger in court for decades till Nigeria returned to civil rule.

Mr Williams filed a suit in the UK where Justice Mary Clare Boulder of the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court awarded  $21,231,960.74 against the Nigerian government in 2018.

The businessman sought to enforce the judgment in the U.S., where Nigeria was putting up a fierce legal battle to prevent surrendering the funds. 

How Mr Williams answers the questions in his deposition will determine Nigeria’s next line of action.