The news of the shocking death of the former Governor of Bayelsa State
\nChief DSP Alamieyeseigha broke in the afternoon of October 10, 2015.
\nFrom available records, Alamieyeseigha would have been 63 in a month
\ntime, specifically on the 14th of November this year. In a country
\nwhere life expectancy stands at less than 55 years, according to the
\nmost recent World Health statistics, one could still say that at 63
\nthe former governor would be counted lucky, especially realizing the
\nfact that this world is not a permanent abode for any mortal.<\/p>\n
Even then his sudden death has raised questions on whether
\nAlamieyeseigha died a natural death or whether he was unduly hounded
\nout of this world as a result of the actions or inactions of some
\npowerful individuals or authorities.<\/p>\n
Perhaps a short historical account will help us out. In 2005, some
\nstate governors were suspected to be working with then Vice President
\nAtiku Abubakar against the re-election ambition of President Obasanjo.
\nEven without properly investigating this allegation, the Nuhu
\nRibadu-led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) was
\nviciously deployed to cage them. Pronto, charges of corruption were
\ntrumped up against the governors and some of them got impeached under
\nstrange circumstances. Later the courts were to pronounce their
\ninnocence and annul the impeachment, as a demonstration of the fact
\nthat any action anchored on injustice would ultimately suffer a
\nreversal. It is instructive that many of the governors who were then
\ndubiously removed from office like Senator Joshua Dariye, Senator
\nChris Ngige, and Governor Ayodele Fayose are all back to reckoning
\ntoday, occupying important positions of trust in the nation.<\/p>\n
In the case of Alamieyeseigha, Obasanjo laboured to do him in without
\nsuccess. He therefore leveraged his contacts in the United Kingdom
\nGovernment to put him under watch, after giving him a bad name. This
\nsubsequently resulted in Alamieseigha arrest in London on charges of
\nmoney laundering.<\/p>\n
Expectedly, prosecuting Alamieyeseigha became a difficult task even
\nfor the UK authorities as they searched his home repeatedly only to
\nrealise less than 70, 000 pounds, for which they laboured to find a
\nsection of their law under which he was charged to court.<\/p>\n
For some strange and inexplicable reasons, Alamieyeseigha jumped bail
\nand returned to Nigeria. Still towing a vindictive path, Obasanjo
\nobligated the helpless Bayelsa State House of Assembly to impeach him.
\nHis phony reason was that since he jumped bail in the UK, he had
\nbecome a fugitive unworthy of holding public office. Alamieyeseigha
\nwas subsequently arrested by Ribadu EFCC. Curiously, the British
\nauthorities did not request for the extradition of Alamieyeseigha to
\ncontinue his trial throughout the period he was being detained by the
\nanti-corruption body. Eventually, he was prosecuted by the EFCC and,
\nfollowing a plea bargain, he was released after spending several years
\nwith the EFCC.<\/p>\n
The claim that former President Jonathan protected him is in deed
\npreposterous and a non issue. The whole of 2006 up to mid 2007 that
\nAlamieyeseigha was with the EFCC, Jonathan was still the Governor of
\nBayelsa State with no control of Federal Government agencies. Even
\nwhen Jonathan came to Abuja, he was the Vice President from mid 2007
\nto 2010 thus could not have prevented the Federal Government Agencies
\nfrom extraditing Alamieyeseigha if ever the United Kingdom wanted him.<\/p>\n
It is curious that 10 years after, the UK authorities now wanted
\nAlamieyeseigha extradited as claimed by Prof. Itse Sagay, SAN. I am
\nnot a lawyer and will not dwell on the merit of the law, but I know
\nthat certainly, criminal offences are not statute barred. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want
\nany lawyer including Itse Sagay who is now heading a Presidential
\nCommittee on Anti-corruption to teach me the laws of criminal justice.
\nHowever, clearly ,there are social and ethical questions we need to
\naddress:<\/p>\n
If Alamieyeseigha had a strong case of money laundering why was it
\nthat the UK authorities never asked for his extradition when he
\nreturned to Nigeria, especially all that time that he was being
\ndetained by the EFCC?<\/p>\n
If he did in deed jump bail as alleged, why was it that the UK
\nauthorities did not ask the EFCC to send him back to the UK to face
\nthe law?<\/p>\n
If he actually smuggled himself out of detention in the UK as was
\npurported, how come no UK official was either queried or punished for
\nnegligence and laxity? I am not aware that the UK authorities ever
\ninvestigated the escape of such high profile detainee from prison!<\/p>\n
Why would the UK suddenly develop interest in reopening
\nAlamieyeseigha money laundering case for a figure not exceeding 70,
\n000 pounds, and demanding his extradition, ten years later? And that
\nis coming after he had been duly jailed by a court of competent
\njurisdiction in Nigeria and subsequently obtained Presidential pardon?<\/p>\n
Not many knew that Alamieyeseigha was recently in Dubai for treatment
\nwhen Sagay raised the issue of Alamieyeseigha likely extradition to
\nthe UK for trial. The former Governor had to abandon his treatment and
\nhurriedly returned to Nigeria to face his plight. The narrative of
\nthis move and the attendant celebration and unsolicited facilitation
\nin certain quarters back home in Nigeria, is a story for another day,
\nespecially as the hunted has gone to the great beyond. The UK may not
\nbe interested in his corpse for obvious reasons, but the question is
\nwho is really interested in Alamieyeseigha incarceration.<\/p>\n
It is no longer in doubt that his romance in 2005 with Vice President
\nAtiku Abubakar became his original sin, as he himself revealed in a
\nrecent newspaper interview. It is therefore not strange that former
\nPresident Obasanjo attack dogs went after him.<\/p>\n
It is instructive that lately, Alamieyeseigha had been in the news.
\nDuring the declaration of a second term-seeking Governor Seriake
\nDickson, as the PDP aspirant for the Bayelsa Governorship race, the
\nformer governor made statements that may have been considered
\nprovocative to some people. He also granted newspaper interviews where
\nhe spoke on issues that might not have gone down well with some
\npowerful people.<\/p>\n
While reacting to the news of his passage, Governor AyodeleFayose of
\nEkiti state accused the APC-led federal government of\u00a0 hounding
\nAlamieyeseigha to his death, because of his strong support for the
\nPeoples Democratic Party and its candidate in the Bayelsa state
\nforthcoming gubernatorial election.<\/p>\n
He had said: Obviously, the Federal Government was behind the plot to
\nextradite the Alamieyeseigha to the United Kingdom to face fresh
\ntrial, a situation that made him to abandon his medical treatment in
\nDubai.<\/p>\n
Even though I am not against anti-corruption fight, it is painful
\nthat in the present day Nigeria, political vendetta is being allowed
\nto override the sovereignty of the country…. Having been tried and
\nconvicted eight years ago, served his sentence and forfeited
\nproperties to the Bayelsa State Government; methinks Alamieyeseigha
\nshould have been allowed to live his life without unnecessary
\npolitical intimidation and harassment.<\/p>\n
Many pan-Ijaw groups have also towed this path by demanding
\nexplanation from the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government
\nover its fanatical disposition towards releasing to another country, a
\ncitizen of Nigeria that had been tried, convicted and later pardoned
\nin accordance with the laws of the country.<\/p>\n
Could this really be the reason why the UK authorities wanted him back
\nto the UK to be caged, so that he would not pose any threat to those
\nwho want to win the Bayelsa gubernatorial elections at all cost?<\/p>\n
I have no evidence that these claims are true. But the foregoing is in
\ndeed a wake up call for the south south, especially the Ijaw nation
\nthat whose people are still being treated as second hand citizens.
\nThey must never go to sleep as far as the question of self
\ndetermination and national recognition are concerned. To the extent
\nthat the minorities in Nigeria, especially the long suffering South
\nsouth people, continue to suffer marginalization, humiliation and
\nneedless exposure to external mortification without protection, the
\nIjaws would continue to fight for their right to exist.<\/p>\n
* Mr Ola, a public affairs commentator, contributed this piece from
\nYenagoa in Bayelsa State<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The news of the shocking death of the former Governor of Bayelsa State Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha broke in the afternoon of October 10, 2015. From available records, Alamieyeseigha would have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n