AN eminent Norwegian-born former Paris magistrate, Dr. Eva Jolly, has said that the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, was sacrificed for daring to probe a former governor from one of the oil-rich Niger Delta states and a prominent daughter of an erstwhile president of the country.

Joly, who brought the French state-owned petrol company, Elf Aquitane, to its knees in the mid-1990s, made the revelation while speaking on "Cutting out corruption: The role of the UK and the EU," at the House of Commons.

Paying tribute to Ribadu, who he described as "my friend," Joly, who was given around the clock protection by four policemen during the Elf investigations, told the gathering that "Nigeria tried building a viable anti-corruption campaign and Ribadu was unbelievably efficient, but then, he stepped on the big toes" of the duo.

She said Ribadu discovered that the lady, also a politician, who is currently enmeshed in scandal "bought a flat as an 18-year old student in New York, and we know how expensive it is to buy a flat there." According to her, "Ribadu was removed for indicting the former governor whose the EFCC is prosecuting on graft charges "and it was after doing such great works that they realised he has to go to school."

Speaking from experience, having indicted the cronies of two former French presidents, Francois Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, Joly said: "It is difficult to investigate sitting powers, they'll stop you."

The Norwegian revealed how Chirac was phoning her in the night and urging her to drop the case, but she refused because, according to her, the President had no constitutional powers to stop the trial.

Amidst deafening silence, as she revealed how European companies colluded with African leaders to defraud the continent, Joly, who once branded France as being "institutionally corrupt," stunned the audience when she disclosed that France frustrated Ribadu as he sought ways of retrieving the loot deposited in French banks by former military dictator, the late Gen. Sani Abacha.

"Can you believe that France did not co-operate with Ribadu because the request was written in English? There are loads of Abacha's money in the UK and Switzerland."

She also accused Britain of not making much progress in fighting corruption, citing the absence of necessary laws to repatriate stolen loot as one major obstacle.

Joly disclosed: "Abacha got $4 billion out of Nigeria and only $1 billion has been returned, while Madam (Mariam) Abacha is paying expensive lawyers to stop the loot being returned."

"This wouldn't have been the case if Britain and other European countries have the required laws to repatriate stolen loot.

"The world's worst company is based in Netherlands. They help plunder Congo and Angola and French banks finance them.

"In the West, we do harbour illicit money. We're not respecting the rules."

She later spoke with The Guardian, expressing confidence that Ribadu would be back: "They've sent him on a course, let him go. He's hugely popular and I know he'll be back soon," she added.