JAMES IBORI FREED FROM UK JAIL; RE ARRESTED FOR QUESTIONING RE CONFISCATION OF ASSETS ORDER

James Ibori, the former Delta state governor was earlier today released from from a London prison after completing his jail term.

He finished his prison term at Her Majesty’s Prison in Bedford, outside of London, after initially being held at the Long Lartin Prison in Worcestershire. The ex-governor, was handed a 13-year jail term in April 2012 by a Southwark Crown court in London and was released by prison authorities on January 22.

A prison source at Bedford confirmed on Tuesday night that, “He is out of here.” but his new destination is yet to be confirmed.

Ibori was however, reportedly re-arrested to face another charge relating to the confiscation of his ill-gotten assets, estimated to be about 250 million pounds as sources confirmed that the case initially billed for May, will now come up in June.

Ibori, 57, had been jailed for using UK financial institutions to misappropriate hundreds of millions of pounds stolen from public funds in Delta state and his journey to jail began with his arrest on May 13, 2010 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

He was nabbed under Interpol arrest warrants issued from United Kingdom courts and enacted by the Metropolitan Police.

Ibori also recently reacted to claims by Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation (AGF) that the federal government will soon recover £6.9 million stolen funds frittered away by him.

A statement issued on his behalf by Tony Eluemunr, his media aide read: “There is no Ibori loot anywhere in the world. Such money, whether in British pounds, American dollars or the Nigerian naira just does not exist. This is because the Ibori London trial is not yet over. It is an incontrovertible fact that the confiscation hearing has not started at all, and remains months away into the future.

“This makes it disappointing that a high official of state such as the Attorney-General may have been misled into believing that an Ibori loot not only exists anywhere, but he even put a figure (6.9 million pounds) to it.