Ibori: Ogboru circulates ‘SSS report’
By Tony Eleumunor
Rotimi Fadeyi (Abuja)
and Tunke-Aye Bisina (Asaba)
An interim
investigation report, said to have emanated from the State Security Service
(SSS), states that the criminal record book of the Bwari Upper Area Court was
tampered with in the case involving one James Onanefe Ibori.
The three-page report,
which has no logo of the SSS, also states that one James Onanefe Ibori was
convicted by the court and sentenced to six months on September 28 1995 -
on a two count charge of negligent conduct and criminal breach of trust -
or an option of N500 on each of the counts.
The report, circulated
in Abuja last week, however, did not emanate from the SSS through a press
conference or press release distributed by its employee. Instead, it came from
Turner Ogboru, younger brother of Great Ogboru, a known opponent of Ibori. It
was handed over to an Abuja-based journalist who distributed it among his
colleagues.
Turner was sighted
last week in the office of Inspector General of Police Tafa Balogun. Great
Ogboru was Delta State governorship candidate of Alliance for Democracy in last
year’s elections, and he has taken litigation against Ibori.
The report purportedly
signed by one Erasmus Leo Njoko, is said to be a response to a letter of
complaint by the governor, dated January 27 2003, where he alleged that Andrew
Oru and Joe Igbuzor conspired with the judge, registrar and staff of the Upper
Area Court Bwari, to alter proceedings of the court in respect of case No
81/95.
The report states that
during investigations by the SSS, it was further discovered that pages 884 and
885 of the record book had been removed.
It indicated that the
Upper Area Court Judge, Mohammed Awwal Yusuf, claimed that the records in
respect of the trial and conviction of Shaibu Anyebe were contained in the
missing pages.
It was learnt that
another police report on the Ibori case has emerged and was distributed by the
same Turner. In this new one, the letter head used by Balogun does not have his
CFR title.
In the first final
police report (FPR), published as an advertisement in The Vanguard, the title
of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) appeared as one of Balogun’s
titles.
Many see the document
as doctored because Balogun received the national award in December, but he
purportedly signed the FPR in June, six months before he signed the document.
Reacting to the fresh
development, Ibori’s Senior Special Assistant on Media Abel Oshevire said
it is part of the scheming by the police to obstruct the course of justice in
the case where his name is being mentioned.
In a statement on
Sunday, he insisted that the so-called final report on the case, believed to be
in circulation, is an afterthought, hence Balogun “is into some form of
mischief to give credibility to it”.
He added: “We are not surprised by
this, as it is in tandem with Mr. Chris Olakpe’s defence last week that
the so-called police final report, which was brought to court and contained the
IG’s CFR award was not a certified true copy”.
He expressed confidence that the judiciary will see through
the loopholes and antics of the police to deliver a judgment “that will
be acceptable to the whole world”.
