Christine Ibori-Ibie, the only surviving sister of James Ibori, and Udoamaka Onuigbo (Okoronkwo), his associate, were yesterday sentenced to 5 years each in prison by Judge Christopher Hardy of a Southwark London Crown Court.
The sentence followed the June 1 and 2 2010 court ruling that found Ms. Ibori-Ibie and Ms. Onuigbo guilty of the charges of money laundering and mortgage fraud levelled against them.
The jury however, acquitted the third accused in the case, Adebimpe Pogoson, Mr. Ibori’s former assistant, of all charges.
The money laundering trial involving Mr. Ibori’s female aides began at the Southwark Crown Court, London, after Ms. Pogoson, (a personal assistant on confidential matters during his tenure as Delta State governor) and his sister, Ms. Ibori-Ibie, were charged in December 2007 on three counts of conspiring “together with Mr. Ibori, Ms. Onuigbo, and others to defraud the Delta State government.” The aides were charged with helping the former governor move an estimated £70 million worth of looted funds through several London banks.
A large turn out
According to those who attended the trial, Judge Hardy had to shift the court venue from Court 8 (which was the original venue of the sitting) to Court 9 and then finally to the largest court room in the Southwark London Crown Court to accommodate the number of Nigerians who came to witness the sentencing of the Ibori women.
The convener of the Nigeria Liberty Forum, a civil rights group, Kayode Ogundamisi, who was also at the court sitting, said more than 300 Nigerians were already at the court premises by 12:30pm, although the court did not begin proceedings till 2pm.
“The courts were filled and people were standing outside. They were brought in and escorted by two prison guards and the prosecution filed an application asking the court to confisticate all the assets recovered and unrecovered from the convicts, but the defence opposed the application,” said Mr. Ogundamisi.
The judge subsequently fixed a later date for the case on the confistication of the assets of the convicts.
Plea for leniency
The defence counsel to Ms. Ibori in its final submission pleaded with court to be lenient with her. The team hinged its plea on the fact that Ms. Ibori has three dependent children, had lived in the UK for more than 25 years, and also needed medical care. To buttress this last point they presented medical reports. The defence teams also brandished a letter purportedly from a pastor stating that she is a person of good character. They also insisted in their final summation that the real criminal in the case was James Ibori, and that two women were only pawns in his money laundering activities.
They admitted that the 40 million pounds found in fixed assets in the United Kingdom were only 10 percent of James Ibori’s total worth.
Indicting the Nigerian judiciary
During his ruling, Judge Hardy slammed the Nigeria judiciary for allowing itself to be influenced by Mr. Ibori. The judge described as half hearted, the fight against corruption by its anti-graft agencies in Nigeria.
“He (the judge) also stated that Nigeria, being a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, must live to the true tenets of such agreement.
Before he passed sentence, Judge Hardy said although he had carefully listened to the plea for mercy by the defence and taken into account the mitigating circumstances they outlined, he has to send a strong signal by way of a punishment to serve as a deterrent to others.
According to Mr. Ogundamisi, Judge Hardy also said the jury in the case believes strongly that the two accused persons were in the full know how about the fraudulent activities of Mr. Ibori. Mr. Hardy is also reported to have said the real victims in this case are the Nigerian people and the people of Delta State who have been deprived of a lot of amenities.
Background
In December 2009 , a Nigerian judge sitting in the Delta State, which Ibori ruled as governor, dismissed a 170-count fraud case against him. He subsequently fled Nigeria after the country’s anti -corruption body invited him for questioning, following new allegations that he used Delta State government funds for a personal business deal. Mr. Ibori was arrested on May 12, in Dubai, on a U.K. warrant and remains there on bail.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ibori is himself wanted in the United Kingdom to answer charges similar to those that led to the conviction of the two women. He is, however, still in Dubai awaiting the processing of his asylum request by the United Arab Emirate. Meanwhile, security agencies including the London Metropolitan Police, are hoping the claim will be rejected and Mr. Ibori extradited to the United Kingdom. Nigeria does not have an extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates so the authorities here are hoping to piggy back on the United Kingdom to ensure Mr. Ibori answers for the charges against him.
While fielding questions at a media parley organised to mark her second anniversary in office, in Abuja, the EFCC boss, Farida Waziri, said that the extradition process on Mr. Ibori is in progress and that the agency is collaborating with the UK government. “There is no extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates, but we have with the UK. We have been talking and he is likely to be extradited to the UK,” she said.