Diezani was not arrested, she is receiving treatment for cancer in London – her family

Former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who is being investigated for money laundering and corruption-related offences, has cancer and is due for surgery next week, her family has revealed.

The embattled former minister was arrested last Friday in London, alongside four other people, and was later released on bail.
On Monday, the Westminister Magistrate’s Court, granted an application by the NCA for the seizure of 27,000 pounds from her and an undisclosed amount from her mother, Beatrice Agama.

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) also raided and sealed her Abuja residence soon after she was arrested on Friday.

In a statement released on Thursday on behalf of her family and signed by Oscar Onwudiwe, a lawyer, her family said she was in London to receive treatment for the cancer which recently got worse.

“She completed months of chemotherapy just last week and is scheduled to undergo surgery next week in London,” the statement read. “The family has been bearing this challenge with prayers and as much grace and fortitude as possible; and would plead with all reasonable Nigerians to pray for her recovery so that she can face this allegation and give account of her stewardship. Yes, she can- and very well, too.”

Her family claimed that contrary to reports in the media, she merely honoured an invitation by the NCA and she was neither arrested nor her passport seized. The statement also denied media reports that she was arrested following her attempt to buy a luxury apartment in Hyde Park London.

“As though to outdo the sensational allegations in the online publication, the mainstream media in Nigeria has been alleging that Mrs. Diezani attempted to purchase a property on Hyde Park Street in London for a whooping amount which embarrassingly ranges from 12.5 million sterling pounds to 13 billion sterling pounds(sic). This claim is utterly false and laughable, for the amounts mentioned are only in the imagination of the reporters.

“This property is quite popular. It belongs to a well-known eminently successful Nigerian entrepreneur who would also find this allegation embarrassing as the intention to sell the property has neither been contemplated nor disclosed to any person.”

The family denied reports that the former minister’s mother, Mrs Agama, as well as her stepson, Ogonna Madueke, owns houses in the UK and the United States.

The statement said the family will deal with those it claimed are bent on tarnishing its name. “The Madueke family has taken a decision on how to appropriately deal with those who are on a mission to soil their hard earned family name.