A
British High Court, the Royal Court of Justice, Queens Bench Division, Court 1,
sitting in London, yesterday, ordered the immediate release of former Delta
State governor, Chief James Ibori, from prison, saying the move to hold him
after serving out his sentence was illegal.
Ibori
breathed the air of freedom at about noon, after the UK court dismissed a
detention warrant lodged by the Home Office to keep him in custody, pending the
conclusion of the assets confiscation trial arising from the original case
launched against him.
Ibori
had been due for freedom on Tuesday, December 20, 2016, after spending six and
half years in prison before the fresh legal moves by the Home Office.
Though
Justice Juliet May, who heard the case for further detention, dismissed the
case by the Home Office, he nevertheless ruled that Ibori could remain in the
United Kingdom until the end of January when the deportation case would be
heard.
The
entanglements, nonetheless, news of Ibori’s freedom sparked jubilation among
his supporters in several parts of Delta State. In his home town, Oghara, the
excitement turned into a carnival as supporters took to the streets dancing.
One
of Ibori’s lawyers present in court said “the UK’s Home Office in a last minute
bid, tried to block his release on the premise that his assets confiscation
hearing remained inconclusive.” The trial pertains to efforts to confiscate
£18m (eighteen million pounds) traced to Ibori by the Home Office.
This
prompted Ibori’s lawyers to file an emergency hearing suit challenging the
decision of the Home Office not to release him and seeking the immediate
release of the frontline Nigerian politician. The lawyers won an immediate
reprieve when the presiding judge, Justice May, ordered his immediate release.
Ibori’s
lawyers explained to the judge that there were no grounds in law under which
Ibori could be detained, insisting that the refusal of the Secretary of State
was unlawful. But the prosecution team urged the judge not to release him since
the confiscation hearing against him was still pending. But the defence counsel
countered that the law demanded the release or deportation of anyone who had
finished serving his term.
After
listening to both parties, Justice May ordered the immediate release of Ibori
from prison. Ruling yesterday, presiding Judge, Justice May, who heard the
emergency appeal filed by Ibori to enforce his rights, refused the Home
Office’s request to further hold him in prison and ordered his immediate
release without conditions Speaking exclusively to a news source on the
telephone outside the court immediately after the ruling, one of Ibori’s
lawyers,
Jonathan
Chike Epelle, said: “The Home Office’s position
was totally unreasonable and was not in accordance with any known provision of
prison, immigration or confiscation law.
“We
are grateful that the judge was able to see the true position and acted with
complete fairness and experience.”
Meanwhile,
the development sparked wild jubilation in several sections of Delta State. His
kinsmen at Oghara and other Urhobo communities in the state, however, formed a
carnival procession as they lined up on the major streets dancing. When visiting
Oghara, Mosogar, Jesse, Sapele and other neighbouring communities, joyful
residents were seen chanting solidarity songs in honour of the former governor,
describing him as, “The hero of our time”,
“The
resource control guru” and “Liberator of the oppressed, who paid the price for
the sake of his people.” One of Ibori’s close associates, Chief Ighoyota Amori,
who served as commissioner for education in Ibori’s administration and
subsequently as political adviser to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, said:
“Our
joy knows no bounds as the entire Urhobo nation, Deltans, and the whole country
await his triumphant return to his fatherland. “No matter how long a road is,
it must have an end. The long wait and expectation have come to a positive end.
To God, we give all the glory. There is no doubt that his
incarceration/imprisonment in almost eight years now created a big political
vacuum, which will now be filled by his triumphant return to his fatherland.”
Another
Ibori associate, Chief Ayiri Emami, said:
“The
release of Ibori is long awaited by all Nigerians. My support for him is not
about supporting corruption, but that his incarceration was political and the
sponsors were corruption personified.”
Also
speaking to a source, Chairman of Delta State Association of Past Local Government
Legislators, Hon. Clement Olojoba, said:
“Today
(yesterday) that Chief Ibori is released is like a festival for all Urhobo
people at home and in Diaspora. “There is celebration all over the world now
and we have all heaved sigh of relief. Urhobo nation and Delta State as whole
are blessed once again.”
Former
Minister of Information, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire on his part, said: “Seriously
speaking, all of us Deltans and Niger Deltans are highly pleased about his
release, because the circumstances
surrounding how he was hounded is very bad.
“Personally,
I am highly pleased that he has withstood all the harassment and did that in
good health and while in prison, he never lost touch with his home base,” he
added.
Chief
of Staff to the Delta State governor, Tam Brisibe, stated: “Obviously, I am
happy that he has been released and we are looking forward to his coming to
Delta State.”
Former
DESOPADEC Commissioner, Dr. Henry Ofa, who spoke to our reporter on the phone,
said: “As am talking to you right now,
we are at the residence of the chairman of Ethiope East and we are already
celebrating his release and give God the glory.”
Former
General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers,
NUPENG, Chief Frank Kokori, however, spoke differently, blaming the former
Delta State governor as one of the persons that corrupted the nation’s
democracy as he charged him to lay low, following his freedom.
“We
thank God for his life, but he was one of those that destroyed INEC and the
judiciary, and that is why Delta is the place where people who handle electoral
matters go back as billionaires,” as he urged the former governor to work for a
better Delta State.
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