The U.S. State Department says the Washington-area home of Nigeria's vice president has been searched as part of an international anti-corruption probe.
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents are reported to have searched Atiku Abubakar's home on August 3, the same day agents searched the Washington and New Orleans homes of U.S. congressman William Jefferson, an eight-term Democrat from the southeastern U.S. state of Louisiana.
A New Orleans newspaper, Times-Picayune, reported Saturday that agents who searched Representative Jefferson's homes were looking for documents related to a telecommunications deal he was trying to engineer in Nigeria.
The newspaper says the agents were looking for evidence of illegal payments allegedly made by or arranged by Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Abubakar, as well as Ghana Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama.
The congressman's homes were searched about three weeks after he returned from a trip to Ghana.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.