Alamieyeseigha: UK returns £1m loot

[Richard Akindele]

Abuja—The Federal Government has received about one million pounds from the UK government as cash recovered from former Bayelsa State governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
A cheque for the amount was received yesterday in London by the Nigerian High Commission on behalf of the Federal Government.

[img]http://nairaland.net/images/Alamieyeseigha.jpg[/img]

Presenting the cheque, Detective Constable in charge of specialist crime directorates’ money laundering team, Mr. Peter Clark, said that the seizure demonstrated the success of the crime act aimed at stopping criminals from benefiting from money obtained illegally.

Clark who commended the working relationship between the UK anti-laundering agency and Nigeria’s EFCC, said that the development was made possible by cooperation of the two agencies.
He stated that the occurrence would deter financial crime in both countries noting that the two agencies would target money launderers using London and its banking system.

Nigeria’s High Commissioner in the UK, Dr. Christopher Kolade, who received the cheque, commended the UK government for its cooperation.
According to him, this had effectively denied Nigerian treasury looters the opportunity to use that country’s financial system to stash away money.
Kolade called on other European countries to emulate the UK in the global fight against financial crime.

Vanguard

[Richard Akindele]

Alamieyeseigha committed a criminal act of money laundering by being in possession of cash totalling £920,000 in pounds and US dollars contrary to the provision of Section 327 (1) of Proceeds of Crime Act 2000. Also, £420,000 was found in Alamieyeseigha's account; and the the governor transferred £475,000 to another account contrary to section 93 c(1) of the Criminal Justice Act of 1988.


The Governor has been under investigation by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the past three years. The Governor has responded predictably first by pleading not guilty and secondly by accusing Britain of acting in a "bigoted and neo-colonialist manner". This may well be however the question is how does someone who earns the equivalent of $1000 plus expenses come to have £1,000.000 in cash in his house (apparently he claims this belongs to someone else! Bank accounts do not lie so we need to know where the £420,000 and £475,000 found in his account(s) and where the money for the house itself came from.


Sections of Bayelsa people are presently rallying around their governor - why - because he is "our governor" and "needs our support". I say they are misguided sycophants as I cannot think of one single credible explanation for this situation. The whole sordid shameful saga has undermined the ongoing call for 50% derivation of oil monies to the Niger Delta states of which Bayelsa is one AND the calls of self-determination and autonomy.


Back home Niger Delta activist and youth leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, Alhaji Asari Dokubo has been detained by the Federal Government of Nigeria without being charged. Following his detention Dokubu's followers have threatened to blow up oil installations in the Niger Delta which they have since retracted. Also following the arrest of the Bayelsa State Governor, Alamieyeseigha, members of the Ijaw Youth have stated that they will not guarantee the safety of foreign nationals working in the region.

Where I am confused is I do not see the connection between the arrest of Alamieyeseigha and the threat to foreign nationals or oil installations in the region. The man is innocent until proved guilty and his arrest and charge should not be conflated with the struggle for self-determination I do however see the connection between those threats and the detention of Dokubo. Dokubo sees himself and his followers as a "self-styled guerrilla force" fighting for an independent Ijaw nation. As Ike Okonta has pointed out on this blog, Dokubo has been painted by the Nigerian and International media as "a self-serving" and as a "simple thug".

Obviously this picture of Dokubo serves the interest of the Nigerian government who have kept the Niger Delta under military occupation for the past 12 years and who consistently refuse to agree more than 13% derivation of oil monies, collude with the oil companies in the violation of land and people. Whilst I do not necessarily agree with some of Dokubo's methods (guns and violence) or even his call for an independent Ijaw state. I do believe that it is right and proper for the ALL of the Niger Delta region to receive at the very minimum 50% derivation of oil monies and the right to determine their own future independent of but alongside the rest of Nigeria.

[Richard Akindele]

"What is 10,000 pounds?� The man asked the British police when money was found in his house. It's like saying, "thats chicken change for God sake, we have more in my country..."

This saga simply further exposes the coruption in the Nigerian system. It has become such a large open wound, that the perpetrators are no longer ashamed of it.

For those who don't know:

He was detained in London on charges of money laundering. Metropolitan Police officers found £1 million cash at one of his many London homes. The state he has governed in Nigeria for the last six years does not have any electricity, yet he has been found to own real estate in London worth an alleged £10 million.

His state's monthly federal allocation for the last six years has been in the order of £32 million.

He jumped bail in December 2005 from the United Kingdom while disguised as a woman. He was suspended from the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) in early December 2005 before being impeached by the Bayelsa State Assembly on 9 December.

He was replaced by his Deputy Governor Goodluck Jonathan.