…anticipatory payment to come from any property confiscated from Chief Ibori
Chief James Onanaefe Ibori’s defence lawyers shocked the Southwark Court in London on Wednesday when they adduced evidence before Judge Tomlinson of a conspiracy between ex-president Goodluck Jonathan led Federal Government and British government to railroad Ibori and his associates into jail for anticipatory £25 million payment to be deducted from any money confiscated from Ibori.
The two governments’ conspiracy led to a UK government’s overseas development agency, Department for International Development (DFID) to induce police investigators with questionable “salary payments” and other corrupt practices leading to travesty of justice with professional misconduct, dishonesty, perversion of justice, criminal non-disclosures, while the officers lied to both the trial court and British Court of Appeal.
The agreement signed by British and Nigerian governments showed that DFID was promised £25 million from money that will be confiscated from Ibori before any penny is remitted to Nigeria. Consequently, DFID aggressively started paying the “salaries” of the police investigators to cook up evidence against Ibori and his associates, the evidence continually revealed.
Mr. Tony Eluemunor, Head of Ibori Media Office, said in a statement that the evidence was the highlight of Wednesday’s court proceedings which were delayed for hours because the corrupt London Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service suddenly refused to appear in court for the day’s hearing. A thoroughly disappointed Judge Tomlinson refused to adjourn hearing to another day.
Instead, by 12.30 pm, the judge ordered the prosecution to appear in court by 2pm as the matter at hand, encompassing suspicions of professional misconduct, dishonesty, perverting the course of justice and criminal non-disclosures, lying to the trial court and Court of Appeal, were serious and urgent.
Consequently, the hunters became the hunted and Ibori’s defence team were the accusers while Ibori’s erstwhile accusers and prosecutors became the accused.
Pointedly, two prosecutors, Sasha Wass and Esther Schutzer-Weissmann, were not only at the end of finger-pointing, and have been dismissed from the Ibori case, their activities are now being challenged in court for grounds on which to upturn all the convictions – Ibori’s and his associates’. In fact, all the prosecution lawyers plus the entire police officers that have represented the British Police have been dismissed from the Ibori case and all other cases stemming from it – following allegations of corruption against them, lies and charges of deliberately misleading the court.
Yet, the worst charge so far against the British prosecution came when the court resumed by 2 pm as counsel to Ibori’s former lawyer, Badresh Gohil, dropped the bombshell. The Counsel, Mr. Kamish, stunned the court when he exposed a sinister conspiracy between Nigeria and Britain to railroad Ibori and his associates into jail. He backed this up by pointing at a document signed by British and Nigerian governments agreeing that the Department for International Development (DFID) will be paid 25 million pounds sterling from monies that will be confiscated from Ibori, before any penny is ever remitted to Nigeria. With that document in place, DFID became so aggressive as to start paying the salaries of some police investigators on the Ibori case, especially that of Dectective Constable John McDonald.
Wednesday’s hearing was at the request of Ibori’s lawyers for the prosecution to explain their non-compliance with court orders made to ensure fair as opposed to unfair trial. Mr. Kenneth Talbot represented Ibori while Kamish stood for Gohil.
The case was adjourned to March 8, 2016, to enable the prosecution appoint new counsels as the old ones that have handled the Ibori case since the beginning have now been tainted and dropped and may be facing investigations of corruption and legal perversity.