British Citizens Accuse UK of Fueling Corruption in Nigeria

Some British citizens have blasted their government for fueling corruption in Nigeria, after the think-tank Chatham House, reported that United Kingdom has doled out more than £1billion in aid to Nigeria while the African country’s corrupt officials allow £2billion of oil to be stolen every year.

Chatham House, home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs– throws further doubts over the fate of aid money sent to Nigeria while an angry British citizen has asked UK to burn the aid money instead of doling it to corrupt Nigerian leaders.

The report, Nigeria’s Criminal Crude, said the cash is going to pay for Nigerian naval equipment and training at a time when the country’s maritime forces have conspicuously neglected to attempt to stop shipments of stolen oil.

In other words, the aid may not be going to those who need it most.

It said foreign oil workers have watched as tankers known to be loaded with illicit cargo have sailed past patrol vessels unmolested

Chatham House said the proceeds of oil theft are then laundered in major financial markets, with the City of London key among them. Singapore and Dubai are the other havens.

“The greatest victims are ordinary Nigerians. The trade destroys the environment, weakens public institutions, swallows government revenue that could buy public goods, and imposes other social costs” Chatham House said.

It warned that the scale of the stolen oil trade ‘threatens the integrity of financial markets and the legitimate oil business’.

Nigeria's share of the aid was questioned last month after The Mail, a leading British Newspaper disclosed the country's plans to expand its space agency.

“Some 100,000 barrels of oil a day are being stolen from pipelines, ports and storage tanks with the connivance of politicians, officials and military top brass, says an authoritative report” the Mail said

Also the Tory backbenchers have criticised Prime Minister David Cameron's commitment to increased aid spending

They believe much of the cash amounts to subsidies for rich people in developing countries at the expense of the British poor.

The Chatham House report said: ‘Nigerian crude oil is being stolen on an industrial scale. Proceeds are laundered through world financial centres. In Nigeria, politicians, military officers, militants, oil industry personnel, oil traders and communities profit, as do organised criminal groups.

Britain is named as a ‘hotspot’ where the profits are laundered. The process involves ‘bulk cash smuggling … heavy use of middlemen, shell companies and tax havens, bribery of bank officials, cycling cash through legitimate businesses and cash purchases of luxury goods.’

The Department for International Development, which administers the aid budget, said Britain was working to fight corruption in Nigeria.

But some angry British said queried the aid and one even said that “Said Nigeria is so corrupt, they would rather gather the money and burn it”

Another said that “It's a magic trick , They (British government)  take large amounts of public money & give it away then they get some back via business deals usually with company's they are involved with or are very friendly with & some of the money magically makes it way back but ends up in their pocket in a round about kind of way”