Nigerian court orders seizure of former oil minister's property

A court in Nigeria has ordered the temporary seizure of a $37.5m (£30m) property owned by a former oil minister, according to the country's state news agency.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said Diezani Alison-Madueke, who was Nigeria's oil minister and chief Opec emissary from 2010 to 2015 in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, is being pursued for alleged proceeds of corruption claims.

The Federal High Court in Lagos also ordered a temporary freeze on sums of $2.74m and NGN 84.54m (£207,000) that were said to be part of the rent collected on the property.

The order was issued late on Wednesday (19 July) over the property, which Alison-Madueke bought in 2013, is said to be in Lagos' Banana Island area. In April, the former oil minister was charged in absentia with money laundering by Nigeria's financial crimes agency.

However, her whereabouts remain unclear. In October 2015, Alison-Madueke was arrested for questioning in London, UK, on corruption allegations largely pertaining to missing public funds, but was later released without charge.

On Friday (14 July), it emerged that the US Justice Department had filed a civil complaint aimed at recovering about $144m in assets allegedly obtained through bribes to the former minister.