Breaking News: Ex-Minister of petroleum arrested in London

Nigeria’s former minister of petroleum resources has been arrested in London
, according to reports. It is believed Diezani Alison-Madueke was apprehended at the UK National Crime Agency on Friday 2 October. The agency posted on Twitter that five arrests had been made but declined to reveal the identity of those arrested. A spokesperson told IBTimes UK: “We cannot confirm or deny the identity of anyone who is arrested.”

Alison-Madueke, 54, was allegedly arrested for bribery and corruption charges, according to the Premium Times. The former minister – who has been dubbed “one of the most powerful officials of President Goodluck Jonathan” – admitted to spending $3.5bn (£2.3bn, N577bn) of Nigeria’s money without budgetary approval in February 2014.

Alison-Madueke, who became the first female president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) in 2014, was arrested days after President Muhammadu Buhari appointed himself as the country’s oil minister, after he vowed he would recover millions of dollars worth of funds he alleged were stolen during previous administrations.

The leader also alleged some 250,000 barrels of Nigerian crude oil are stolen every day and sold to other countr