Ex-gov’s media aide says Ibori neither released nor re-arrested

An aide of former Delta State governor, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, said yesterday that reports of his release from prison were not true.

In a statement yesterday, Tony Eluemunor, Ibori’s media assistant, said: “News of the former governor’s release from prison caused sleepless night to scores of Ibori’s supporters as they stayed up all night working the phone to find out the true situation.

“The truth is that no British authority has confirmed either the news of the release or of the purported re-arrest.”

Eluemunor, added: “Many people have asked me how such story could have been cocked up (not Daily Sun). My only reply is that Ibori’s political and legal persecutors tried to counter the favourable wind that arose from Ibori’s corner when the case turned against the London Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecutors by late January, when even they agreed that they were corrupt in the way they investigated Ibori and his associates.


“That forced them to withdraw from obstructing the cause of justice charges they had brought against one of Ibori’s lawyer, Mr. Bradesh Gohil.

“Most importantly, the judge that day ruled that all the documents that had been withheld from Ibori and all his associates should be turned over to them and that they were free to go on appeal to challenge even their earlier convictions. It was this ray of hope that even Ibori’s conviction may be struck down that some manipulators attempted to extinguish in the hearts and minds of Ibori’s supporters when they concocted their lies and passed same off as news.

“To prove that the case has turned and the hunters may be feeling the heat, respected British news media such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), The Times of London and Guardian of London, last week announced that calls have arisen that Ibori’s and his associates’ accusations of corruption against the prosecution be investigated. The New Indian Express of Monday, January 25, 2016 reported that, “in representations to the judge, Stephen Kamlish, Gohil’s defence team accused the Crown Prosecution Service of positively misleading the court and the parties as part of their deliberate cover-up of discloseable material…”