Nigeria, March 23 -- A former Nigerian oil minister, Dan Etete, has hailed the verdict of an Italian court that acquitted Shell, Eni and their managers in the Malabu scandal.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the oil giants and their managers were all acquitted by the court last Wednesday.

The verdict ended a trial that has seen officials of the oil giants battle to prove their innocence.

Prosecutors had charged that executives involved in the Malabu deal knew that much of the $1.1 billion they deposited into an escrow account controlled by the Nigerian government would be disbursed as bribes.

The oil companies and its officials have consistently denied any wrongdoing. However, in 2018, two middlemen named in the Malabu deals were found guil...