Yesterday afternoon, Ms Alison-Madueke was apprehended along with four others at her London home and questioned over corruption and money laundering charges. After several hours of grilling, she was released on bail but her passport was seized and she has been asked to report at Charing Cross Police Station on Monday for further questioning.
Highly controversial, Ms Alison-Madueke has been at the centre of corruption charges in Nigeria, where it is believed billions of dollars went missing under her watch. Although she has never been formally charged with any offence in the past, she has been indicted several times and last year, the House of Representatives passed a resolution demanding a probe after it emerged that she spent N130m (£479,000) a month on a private jet for personal use.
She has also been asked to account for missing Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) funds for which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has set up a four-man committee of crack detectives to probe her. Earlier this week, EFCC operatives sealed her Abuja home and it is believed that passed on her file to the British police who subsequently arrested Ms Alison-Madueke.
Since leaving office on May 29, Ms Alison-Madueke has been in London, where she claimed she is receiving treatment for an unknown illness. Under international money laundering rules, however, the British police can arrest anyone for crimes committed in say Nigeria once the stolen money enters the UK.
It is expected that the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) will formally charge Ms Alison-Madueke later on as it was officers from its International Corruption Unit who collaborated with the Metropolitan Police to arrest her. An official at the Nigerian high commission in London confirmed the arrests, adding that the five persons arrested were between the ages of 21 and 60.
One NCA source added: "The EFCC initiated the arrest after completing investigations into crimes allegedly perpetrated in the petroleum ministry during the tenure of Alison-Madueke. You know that the EFCC has a relationship with the NCA that has lasted for years."
Among the allegations levelled against Ms Alison-Madueke are that she and former president Dr Goodluck Jonathan spent a whopping sum of $6.9m on three stage sets without authorisation. If that money has found its way into the UK, she faces the prospect of being jailed in London like former Delta State governor James Ibori.
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