THE
submission last week by the State Security Service (SSS) that a certain James
Onanefe Ibori was convicted in 1995 did not come to many Nigerians as a
surprise. Instead, it only confirmed the assumption that the police is not clear
headed on the case.
For a clear appreciation of the issue, a
flashback on the drama that has trailed the case is instructive. Early last
year, copies of a document entitled "Delta State (breaking news), James Onanefe
Ibori, an ex-convict-A liberation statement," was circulated across the country.
Attempts were made to disregard the
document, but its weighty nature made such disposition impossible. Gov Ibori
himself, to say the least, was unsettled by it. No wonder that he immediately
set in motion a machinery for unmasking those behind it and their motive.
The investigators didn’t go far to
discover that it was the handiwork of mischief makers who in an attempt to
change the wishes of the people of Delta State decided to adopt devious and
crude means to oust the governor.
Investigations clearly showed that the
person convicted on First Information Report (FIR) No. CR81/85 in circulation
was one Shuaibu Anyebe, a security officer formally attached to the Municipal
Area Council, Abuja.
The man, according to Ibori’s
investigations was convicted by a judge of the Upper Area Court, Bwari, Hon.
Mohammed Awwal Yusuf on September 28, 1995.
However, this fact was set aside and
curiously replaced with Ibori’s name, a job that is believed to have been neatly
done in connivance with the court authorities by the governor’s opponents.
Based on this finding, Gov. Ibori
petitioned President Olusegun Obasanjo over what he (Ibori) called malicious
circulation of mischievous documents against his person by his political
opponents.
President Obasanjo forwarded the complaint
to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr.Tafa Balogun, who immediately swung into
action. Police authorities kicked off their investigation with a visit to the
Divisional Police Headquarters, Bwari, where the alleged case of negligent
conduct and criminal breach of trust against the said Shuiabu Anyebe, an Idoma
by tribe, was investigated.
The police detectives were said to have
recovered the case file No IBK24/95 and the crime diary which was opened on
December 4, 1993 in which the complaint was initially incidented.
The Investigating Police Officer (IPO) No
165736, CPL Odumu Mambo was also tracked down and a statement from him was
recorded.
According to Mambo’s statement "One Malam
Mohammed Usman, a security supervisor attached to Abuja Municipal Council
reported a case of theft of zincs at Abattoir on 21/9/95 at the divisional
headquarters, Bwari. During investigation, one Shuaibu Anyebe was the security
guard in whose custody those zincs were kept and he could not explain how the
zincs were stolen.
"He was then charged to Upper Area Court,
Bwari, presided over by one Alhaji Mohammed Awwal Yusuf for negligent conduct
and criminal breach of trust on First Information Report (FIR) No CR81/95 on
September 28, 1995."
The police declared in its interim report
to the President that there was no evidence to link Gov. Ibori with the alleged
conviction. It is therefore, a huge surprise that despite the initial findings
of the police as contained in their interim report, that a new twist has been
introduced into the matter that has further complicated it.
The Police, four months after it issued
the interim report on February 14, 2003, released a "final" report, dated June
7, 2003 which was a total departure from what its interim report said. The
so-called "final" report became enmeshed in controversies especially on account
of discrepancies noticed in it.
The Delta State government expectedly,
challenged it as an attempt to subvert justice and are insisting that the
Inspector General of Police (IGP) should produce the documents in his possession
that would exonerate the governor.
In the heat of the controversies over the
authenticity of the "final" report, the Police has released yet another "final
investigation report," still dated June 7, 2003, signed by the IGP and addressed
to the President. All these have only succeeded in confusing the public and,
indeed, casting doubts on the minds of people as to the impartiality of the
police in the matter.
Otherwise, why would they engage in such
somersaults in a case as delicate as this, which could shake the foundations of
the nation’s democracy? Are they, by swinging from one extreme to the other,
admitting that they did not do their jobs as thoroughly as they should have or
have they, as alleged by the Ibori camp, succumbed to pressures by opponents of
the governor?
It is important that this should not be the case. The
police must not allow itself to be used to settle any political scores and
because the Ibori case has become celebrated, they must ensure that they do
everything to assist, rather than hamper or complicate, the process of its
resolution and such somersaults as is being witnessed in relation to the report
of their findings cannot be in the overall interest of justice.
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