James Ibori, a former governor of Delta State, has returned to Nigeria, following the end of the 13-year jail term in the United Kingdom where he was jailed for money laundering.
Ibori, a local chief, arrived Nigeria from the United Kingdom in the morning of Saturday, February 4, 2017.
He was arrested by the country’s secret police, the State Security Services, SSS, in Abuja. At the agency’s headquarters, he met with Lawal Daura, the director-general.
The ex-convict’s meeting with the secret police boss was described as a “short briefing” after which he was released.
He arrived aboard chartered Challenger 60 jet at Benin Airport at about 2.25pm from Abuja enroute Delta State.
James Ibori, 57, is reportedly on his way to Oghara, his hometown in Delta State where his relatives and supporters are eagerly awaiting his arrival.
Ibori was arrested in Dubai in 2010, after the UK issued an arrest warrant. The EFCC had accused him of looting as much as $250 million from Delta State’s public treasury.
He was sentenced by Southwark Crown court to prison after he was convicted of 10 counts of money laundering offences in 2012.
Ibori’s former lawyer, the Indian barrister, Badresh Gohil was also convicted along with him. His wife, Nkoyo Ibori and his sister, were also convicted by UK court in related charges.
He had appealed his conviction, accusing the UK police of corruption in February 2016. Court documents revealed that Ibori’s lawyer, Gohil told the judge that the British government had reached an agreement with the Nigerian government requiring the Nigerian government to pay the British Department for International Development (DFID) £25 million from monies that will be confiscated from Ibori, before any remittance is made to Nigeria.
To prove his case, Gohil showed that the DFID was paying the salaries of some police investigators on the Ibori case, especially Detective Constable, John McDonald.
