Trouble is not yet over for a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, as the Metropolitan Police have made a formal request to the Federal Government for his extradition to the United Kingdom.
Ms Neil Coyte of the Met. Police press office informed our correspondent in an e-mail response to an enquiry on Friday that Alamieyeseigha was expected to answer questions on pending charges against him.
�We are seeking his return to the UK in due course to stand trial for the charges put to him by the Metropolitan Police Service. To this end, his extradition has been formally sought from the Nigerian authorities,� Coyte said.
Also declared wanted by the Met. Police is an unnamed 50-year-old woman who was arrested in connection with the investigations into the former governor�s alleged offences.
Alamieyeseigha was arrested in London on September 15, 2005 for money laundering but he jumped bail and escaped to Nigeria on November 19, 2005.
He was initially remanded in custody, and subsequently admitted to bail in London.
But shortly after he escaped to Nigeria, he was arrested, tried and subsequently jailed 12 years on July 26, 2007 for false declaration of assets and money laundering.
He, however, regained freedom on July 27, 2007, because each of the six-count charge against him carried a two-year jail term, which ran concurrently.
At a thanksgiving service in Yenagoa Bayelsa State capital, on September 2, 2007, the former governor claimed that the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo made the British Government to charge him for terrorism and not money laundering.
He also alleged that attempts by the Obasanjo administration to get him a visa to return to the UK to face charges were turned down by the British High Commission in Nigeria.
But the Met. Police denied Alamieyeseigha�s claim, saying he was charged before a Bow Street Magistrate�s Court with three counts of money laundering .
Two of the counts against him were under (1) (A) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and the amount involved totalled �420,000 and �475,000 respectively.
The third count of money laundering was under Section 327(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2000 and the amount involved was �920,000.
The Met. Police added that the woman, who was also arrested in connection with the offences, was granted bail and asked to return in December 2005.
�She failed to appear and is now actively being sought,� Coyte said.
Investigations revealed that the British authorities have so far uncovered assets worth �10m held in the UK by Alamieyseigha. None of these assets was affected by the forfeiture order that attended his recent trial and conviction by a Lagos High Court.
Meanwhile, Alamieyeseigha on Saturday sneaked into Benin, Edo State for the burial formalities of the late Mrs. Susan Remi Spiff, an aunt of the Vice-Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in the state, Daisy Osunde.
The former governor did not take questions from reporters who approached him for an interview.
He was shielded by a large retinue of riot policemen who formed a ring around him and his friends at the event.
Prominent among those with him were Capt. Hosa Okunbor, a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain in the state.
He was decked in a white etibo (Ijaw jumper) over black trousers.
Soon after his presence was announced, some Ijaw at the venue burst into cheer for the man who was popularly known as the Governor-General of the Ijaw Nation.
They hailed, �Aanh Izon! Yah! Aanh Izon!! Yah!!�
The late Susan was married to Remi Spiff, a close associate of the former governor. Spiff hails from Brass, Bayelsa State