A former Nigerian oil minister cleared of taking bribes says the UK authorities destroyed her reputation in a failed prosecution that was "painful and traumatic".

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Diezani Alison-Madueke said the 13-year investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) "could have been handled a lot differently".

Speaking exclusively to the BBC, she said: "I've not been allowed to travel. I've not been allowed to work. They destroyed my reputation and my integrity."

On Wednesday the former minister was found not guilty at Southwark Crown Court of five counts of accepting bribes and conspiracy to commit bribery in a trial that began in January.

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Alison-Madueke, 65, was Nigeria's oil minister between 2010 and 2015 and the first female president of the oil exporters' group Opec.

"When your freedom is taken away from you…it has a very deep impact upon you psychologically," she said.

"I knew that I had never done anything nefarious and I had never done any of the heinous things I was being accused of doing."

Alison-Madueke, who was first arrested in 2015, but not charged until 2023, was accused of receiving kickbacks from wealthy oil tycoons with government contracts who provided her with "a life of luxury".

The alleged bribes included £2m ($2.65m) worth of goods from Harrods, chauffeur-driven cars and the use of multi-million-pound properties in London and Buckinghamshire.

But from the start of the trial in January, defence lawyers questioned the fairness of the prosecution's case, suggesting vital documents that proved Alison-Madueke's innocence had gone missing in Nigeria.

📰 Source: BBC Africa