The three women: his sister, Christine Ibori-Ibie; his secretary, Adebimpe Pogoson; and his mistresss, Udoamaka Onuigbo, arrived in court sheltered by aggressive bodyguards.
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. The Court 8 of the Southwark County court, South East London, was almost filled to capacity. At the venue of the Ibori trial, one could see the expectations on the face of Nigerians.
Majority of the Nigerians present said they turned up to witness the case as advised by the Nigeria Liberty Forum, a pro-democracy group based in the UK.
Kennedy Ugwuamma said; "I am here to quietly but peacefully show my disgust against Ibori's accomplices. "
His Honour, Judge Hardy came in at about 10.06 am and immediately set out to business.
The names of the accused were called and three ladies, later identified as Ibori-Ibie Christine .O, Pogoson Adebimpe F and Onuigbo Udoamaka were ushered into the dock. In particular, Ms. Onuigbo appeared to have lost a lot of weight, unlike her previous appearances. The trio had a subdued look.
There was silence at the public gallery in which the Nigerian spectators sat, except for the murmur of "Awon Ole," which is Yoruba for `these thieves!' from a middle aged Nigerian lady. The trio were admitted on bail by the court, with counsel to Ibori-Ibie putting forward arguments for restrictions on media reporting of the case.
A lot of the time was spent on requesting a sanction on the reportage of the proceedings. The argument did not go down well with those of us in the public gallery. After a long argument and counter argument, the Judge gave a ruling barring media publications "to prevent prejudice/contempt of court."
Intimidating presence
The drama of the whole event was when a lady, who claimed to be a family of the Iboris, came to the public gallery and rained curses on imaginary enemies, wondering loudly: "what is the business of you people (Nigerians) in London to come to court? Na only Ibori steal money?" Defence lawyer for Ms Ibori-Ibie, Andrew Trollope complained about the "intimidating presence" of Nigerians in the court and vowed to move for restrictions on attendance.
The case is expected to go on for days but, from all indications, the accused were jolted with the presence of Nigerians and could barely look up to where members of the public sat.
Sources; NEXT. Pics from Saharareporters; Additional reporting By Joseph Olumide
COMMENT
The drama of the Ibori trial at Southwark County court, South East London was when a lady, who claimed to be a family of the Iboris, came to the public gallery and rained curses on imaginary enemies, wondering loudly: "what is the business of you people (Nigerians) in London to come to court? Na only Ibori steal money?"
Well that woman querried, "na only Ibori steal money?" the other question from us is - '"this woman, na Ibori? Na Ibori wey people wan see for court and then jail. This people, they keep parading tails, and we ask, where are the heads....all them thief heads...na dem all Nigerians want....sure nor be only Ibori steal money, so we wan make dem catch all them way steal money, if kirikiri nor fit enter them, take some of the money wey dem steal, take am build more kirikiri like place for them....how about the island wey dem baba Obasanjo build for criminals... sotee na there baba belong too, with all him sons,...ibori, uba, igbinedion.. .all of them.......true question...' na only ibori steal money? -Omoba
Do you know this guy?
...n London they are Bully in Court. Onuigbo Udoamaka and Christine Ibori-Ibie as they left the Southwark Crown court, London where thier money laundering trial began
yesterday. (Monday 21st September 2009)
Next sitting is this Friday 10 am at the following address:
Southwark Crown Court
1 English Grounds
(off Battlebridge Lane)
Southwark London
England
SE1 2HU
