James Ibori released, to report to London Police weekly
Former Delta state governor, James Onanefe Ibori, who was convicted of money laundering charges by a British court on April 17, 2012, for 13 years, has been ordered released from Huntcombe Prison following a last-minute failure by the UK Homeland Office to keep him in prison longer through a court application.
Ibori, who was a two-term governor of the state between 1999 and 2007, will however, be confined to a flat on Abbey Road, St. John’s Wood area in London, pending a confiscation hearing scheduled for January. In the meantime, he will visit a police station in Croydon weekly, according to Sahara Reporters and THEWILL, both online news media.
His release, according to the report was ordered on Wednesday by Justice May of the Royal Court of Justice Court 1 in London, who ruled that Ibori is released after he completed his jail term over money laundry charges.
Though there is no official statement from the Delta State government on the release, an aide of the governor who would not want to be named said he was still awaiting instruction from Asaba on a possible government statement.
The UK government is pushing for confiscation proceedings on Ibori’s illegally acquired properties. It would be recalled that in 2012, the former governor admitted to 10 counts of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering, and was sent to prison for 13 years by the Southwark Crown Court for fraud totaling about $77m.
Fleeing from the police in Nigeria, he had been captured in Dubai in 2010 and extradited to the UK, where he was prosecuted by the Metropolitan Police. Several possessions are involved in the confiscation hearings he faces. They include mansions in Dorset, north London, and Sandton, near Johannesburg, as well as assorted luxury cars.
Reacting to the release, the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya, commended Ibori for advancing the cause of Nigeria and giving Delta state his best. Igbuya in a statement in Asaba, the Delta State capital described the former governor as a rallying point and a source of great pride and strength to Nigerians.
