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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1472354/posts

"FBI raids Maryland residence of Nigerian VP(related to Dem Rep. Will Jefferson's investigation)"
AP Wire ^

Posted on 08/28/2005 10:54:09 AM PDT by William Creel

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI has raided the Maryland residence of Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar as part of a probe into whether a U.S. congressman made or approved payments to officials in West Africa, a U.S. newspaper reported.

A State Department spokeswoman confirmed the search had taken place, but would not make any further comment.

"All inquiries regarding the search of the United States' residence of Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar should be directed to the Department of Justice," she said.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

The raid, which took place on August 3 but has only just come to light, was in connection with an investigation into William Jefferson, a democratic congressman from New Orleans, the city's Times-Picayune newspaper said Saturday.

The Nigerian vice president was not available for comment on Sunday, but a Nigerian presidential spokeswoman said:

"The presidency has been notified of the incident and is using diplomatic channels to find out the reason and the findings surrounding the incident."

A source familiar with the investigation said subpoenas showed federal agents were looking for records indicating whether Jefferson paid, offered to pay or authorized payments to Nigerian or Ghanaian government officials, The Times-Picayune said.

Agents were seeking documents related to Jefferson's dealings with Abubakar and the vice president of Ghana, Aliu Mahama. Jefferson returned from a five-day visit to Ghana in mid-July, about three weeks before the FBI raided his homes, according to the newspaper.

The subpoenas focused in part on a telecommunications deal Jefferson was trying to engineer in Nigeria over the past year, according to documents and those familiar with details of the investigation."