Britain is to help Nigerian officials who are trying to trace millions of dollars allegedly looted by the African country's former dictator Mr Sani Abacha, the government said today.
Nigeria has repeatedly asked for London bank accounts linked with Mr Abacha to be frozen because they are believed to hold up to Stg£300 million ($450 million) said to have been stolen from public funds.
London and Abuja have been in deadlock over the issue since September, but Home Secretary Mr Jack Straw has now given the go-ahead for British investigators and prosecutors to help their Nigerian counterparts.
British officials had insisted they needed more detailed information about the allegations before they could allow the accounts to be frozen.
A Home Office spokesman said Nigeria's request for assistance had been sent to "the appropriate authorities for action."
The spokesman refused to say which agencies would assist Nigeria, but it is thought they will include the Serious Fraud Office, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Crown Prosecution Service.
Mr Abacha, who ruled Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998, is accused in Nigeria of having diverted three billion dollars of public money into secret accounts in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.
His eldest son, Mohammed, currently faces corruption and murder charges.
In March, Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) reprimanded 15 banks for inadequate money laundering controls when handling Mr Abacha's accounts.
The criticism followed a three-month probe into 23 banks in Britain holding accounts linked to Mr Abacha family members and close associates.
In total the turnover on the 42 accounts identified in Britain and elsewhere amounted to 1.3 billion dollars (euro1.4 billion) between 1996 and 2000, although not all of it was necessarily the proceeds of crime.
Some 98 per cent of that was channelled through British operations of the 15 banks, which included British banks and others based both inside and outside the European Union.
AFP