16th April, 2012
The sentencing proceedings of former Delta State governor, James Ibori in a UK court room started with drama this morning when dozens of his supporters who stormed the court in solidarity with him were bundled out by London Metropolitan Police.
Sahara Reporters which is covering the sentencing live reports that the hired supporters were transported to the court room by the Delta State government. They were bundled out when they started behaving unruly inside the courtroom.
The supporters who were singing praises of Ibori, it was learnt, caused serious disturbance by shouting and shoving the prosecutor and court officials.
Following the rowdiness, the court invited uniformed London Metropolitan police officers to sort out Mr. Ibori’s hired supporters.
There was a standoff as court staff ordered people to go back to the open hallway and wait for their names to be called from a list, but Ibori’s supporters refused. They argued that the list was written by someone in front of the queue and he apparently included names of people who had not queued up as requested by the court staff.
Some pushed forward and had to be forcibly removed from court by MET officers who shouted on them to leave.
The sentencing proceeding was still going on as at the time of filing this report. The judge was yet to pronounce the jail terms.
Ibori faces up to 10 years in prison.
On 27 February this year, Ibori pleaded guilty in a British court to siphoning off $250 million of Nigerian state funds which he spent on luxury houses, cars and a private jet, police said.
James Ibori, who was governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta State between 1999 and 2007, admitted ten offences relating to conspiracy to launder funds, money laundering and one count of obtaining a money transfer by deception and fraud.
The 49-year-old was remanded in custody following the hearing at a London court.
During his two terms as governor, Ibori “systematically stole funds from the public purse, secreting them in bank accounts across the world,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
“His methods included the inflation of state contracts, kickbacks and the straight lift of cash from the state accounts by unscrupulous employees in his inner circle.”
Ibori, who lived in Britain in the 1980s, came to the attention of London’s Metropolitan police in 2005 and two years later a London court froze his British assets, estimated at £35 million (now $55 million, 41 million euros).
Despite earning less than $25,000 a year as governor, his portfolio included a £2.2 million house in the upmarket London district of Hampstead and a £3.2 million mansion in Johannesburg’s wealthy Sandton district in South Africa.
He owned a $20 million private jet and also spent money on fees for exclusive British boarding schools and expensive hotels.
Ibori was first arrested by the Nigerian authorities in December 2007, after losing immunity after leaving office.
Two years later, a court in his home town of Asaba dismissed 170 charges of corruption against him, citing a lack of evidence.
But the case was reopened in April 2010, prompting Ibori to flee to Dubai, where he was arrested a month later and extradited to Britain to stand trial.
Ibori’s wife Theresa, his sister Christine Ibori-Ibie and his mistress Udoamaka Onuigbo are currently each serving five-year sentences in British prisons, while a number of his associates have also been jailed, police said.