Nigeria issues Interpol red alert for P&ID ‘fraudsters’

James Richard Nolan: docked in Abuja on Monday and sent to jail

Nigeria may have issued an Interpol Red Notice against individuals linked to what the Nigerian government believed was a well calculated scam by Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID) to steal $9.6billion from its treasury over a purportedly bogus gas supply contract.

Although there has been no formal announcement of the notice by the Nigerian government, a hint that it has been issued was given by P&ID in a statement on Monday night.

The INTERPOL Red Notice procedure is a mechanism to assist law enforcement agencies apprehend and prosecute criminals across international borders.

Today, in Abuja, the EFCC docked two persons connected with the Irish company, who court papers said were complicit in the attempt at the historic swindle of Nigeria. One of the two is Adam Quinn, son of the late co-founder of the company, Michael Quinn. He is reportedly at large, a probable indication that he may have gone underground to evade Interpol arrest.

The other is James Richard Nolan, Quinn’s co-director in Goedel Resources Limited. Nolan was sent to jail on Monday by Justice Okon Abang when the case was mentioned. He will return to court on 20 November.

Both Quinn and Nolan face a 16 count- charge bordering on money laundering.

P&ID claimed the Nigerian government’s application for an INTERPOL Red Notice against individuals linked to P&ID is a desperate and pathetic effort to stave off the almost $10 billion arbitration award owed to P&ID.

“The Buhari Administration’s Red Notice request is a total abuse of the INTERPOL system and should be rejected. There is zero basis in fact or law for the Buhari Administration’s action: this is purely a political ploy in Nigeria’s campaign to evade a legal judgement.

“The Buhari Administration’s request is founded solely on a totally unlawful and politically-motivated investigation that has fabricated evidence, coerced confessions, ignored due process, and has been conducted with blatant disregard for fundamental human rights.

“The Nigerian Government’s allegations have been consistently rejected in Court: as a result, they are resorting to threats, bullying and legal nihilism. The application to INTERPOL is just more of the same: the use of violence and the organs of state power to threaten, detain, charge and jail innocent individuals linked to P&ID.”

P&ID claimed the Interpol Red Notice should not be used by Nigerian for political point scoring, advancing a political agenda or to assist countries from avoiding their lawful obligations.