The money laundering trial involving the female aides of the former governor of Delta State, James Onanefe Ibori, began yesterday at the Southwark Crown Court, London around 10am. The aides reportedly helped him move an estimated £70 million worth of looted funds through several London banks,
Bimpe Pogoson, Ibori’s former personal assistant on confidential matters, and Christie Ibori-Ibie, his sister, were charged in December 2007 on three counts of conspiring “together with James Onanefe Ibori, Udoamaka Onuigbo (also known as Okoronkwo) and others to defraud the Delta State Government”.
The charge sheet also stated that Ms. Ibori-Ibie “attempted, dishonestly, to obtain for herself or another, a money transfer of £1,075,890 from four different companies, between July 2001 and April 2006”. She is therefore answering to five of eight charges.
The defendants’ lawyers will reportedly be taking on the Proceeds of Crime Unit of the Metropolitan Police in London and the Crown Prosecution Service, in what from day one is set to be a tedious trial.
An official of the Southwark court case progression office, in an exclusive telephone interview with NEXT, confirmed that the accused persons were still at Court 8, where the proceedings held, over five hours after the trial began.
A long trial
The male official, who declined to be identified, also confirmed that case number T20087009 was going to be a long haul.
“I think it’s still going on, the case. It’s a very long one because of the amount of witnesses. There are several people involved; it’s going to be about four to six weeks. Today is the first day. So, basically, it was opening statements and the case has been adjourned until tomorrow at 10:15 am. This is going to be a four to six-week trial.”
The making of a spectacle
Ms. Ibori-Ibie, and Ms. Onuigbo were accused of “being a party to an inflated price fraud in respect of the contract for the building of a sports track for the Delta State government, as well as participating in “the provision of an inflated invoice fraud in respect of the supply of vehicles to the Delta State government.”
A witness at the court, who spoke to NEXT via telephone, said all three women were clearly embarrassed to see that the public gallery made available to individuals was occupied by Nigerians, who took time off work and the Ramadan festivities to follow through on the trial.
Closed to the media
Kayode Ogundamisi, an official of the Nigeria Liberty Forum, a pro-democracy association based in the UK, told NEXT that despite the fact that all digital cameras were confiscated before entry was granted to spectators, the defence team, including Andrew Trollope, counsel to Ms. Ibori-Ibie, “spent considerable time” asking that the media be restricted from access to details of the case, even citing the “intimidating presence” of the Nigerian public.
“I am in the courtroom, and the three accused persons are surprised at the number of Nigerians that turned up for the trial.
One of their lawyers remarked aloud that they were surprised to note the presence of Nigerians citizens, as the prior depositions had been held in an almost empty courtroom,” Mr. Ogundamisi said.
At about 2:25pm on Monday, presiding judge, Hardy granted some concessions to the defence by issuing a “not open to the media order” barring publication of case details in UK-based media organizations.
NEXT sources confirmed that at about 4:40pm, when the court proceedings were over, the three defendants hung back within the court premises, refusing to exit through the court entrance for fear of having their photographs taken by the crowd outside the premises and interested media organisations.
The Southwark Crown Court is situated at 1, English Grounds, off Battle Bridge Lane, Southwark, London, SE12HU.
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