Wanted Dictator's brother set to collect 7.6 million Euros loot

The Irish Government is also embroiled in an international legal battle
to claim the money, which is owed to an Irish company owned by the
brother of Sani Abacha, the late Nigerian dictator.

The Irish,
British and Nigerian governments are all seeking to recover €7.6m owed
to Rosewood International, an Irish-registered company that was struck
off the companies register 11 years ago.

Rosewood, which
supplied security equipment to the Nigerian government, was struck off
because Irish officials believed the company had ceased to trade.

After
the company was dissolved, the Minister for Finance secured a High
Court order vesting all the assets of Rosewood in the State. A private
bank in the Isle of Man has €7.6m in five bank accounts. The money is
owed to Rosewood.

Entitled

The Irish Government later
claimed in legal proceedings in the Isle of Man that it was entitled to
the €7.6m since Rosewood no longer existed.

But yesterday Mr
Abdulkadir Abacha, who claims he is the owner of Rosewood‘s shares and
who travelled to Dublin for the High Court hearing, won a motion to
restore Rosewood to the companies register.

The High Court
victory will allow Mr Abacha, who was involved in a serious road
accident and says he was unaware his company was being dissolved by the
Irish authorities, to claim ownership of the €7.6m owed to the company.

Ms Justice Mary Laffoy yesterday made an order restoring
Rosewood to the companies register, but said the restoration "says
nothing" about ownership of the Isle of Man monies.

Three
years ago, General Sani Abacha, who died in 1998, was named by
anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International as the world‘s
fourth most corrupt leader in recent history.