Former Delta state governor, Chief James Ibori, has said he had
\nbeen\u00a0wrongly accused and maligned by those who said he stole, saying \u201cI am
\nnot a\u00a0thief, I cannot be a thief\u201d.<\/p>\n
Chief Ibori also said the biggest pain he felt over his travails was the
\nsuffering his people had to go through on account of his absence.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a special thanksgiving service organised in his honour by his
\nimmediate community; the Oghara Kingdom, and held at the First Baptist
\nChurch, Oghara, Chief Ibori also said his only testimony and joy now is
\nthe fact that he is alive and back to be with his people.<\/p>\n
According to the former governor, who exhibited his overwhelming joy by
\ndazzling the huge crowd of politicians, clergy, traditional rulers and
\nother enthusiasts who had graced the event, with dances, he had deduced
\nthat the intents of those who were behind his travails was to separate him
\nfrom his people.<\/p>\n
He, however said he had no doubt that he would return home as he had put
\neverything on God and believed that the God he trusted would stand by him.
\n\u201cToday I have decided to speak for myself, I am not a thief, I cannot be a
\nthief. Today is the day they say I should give testimony to God. For those
\nthat know me, you know that my entire life is a testimony itself and I
\nhave said it over and over again that my life is fashioned by God,
\ndirected by
\nGod, sealed, acknowledged, blessed by God and I believe that since the day
\nI was born.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike the Arch Bishop said, when this whole commotion started, what was
\nmost painful to me was the pain and suffering that my people were going
\nthrough.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has nothing to do with me as a person because for some reasons like I
\nsaid to you, I drew my strength from God and somehow, I knew that God
\nwould stand by me. I knew that one day, and this day would come.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am indeed very pleased that I can now stand before you and look at your
\nfaces, faces that I have missed and those of you that have indeed suffered
\nthe pains of my absence. It has nothing to do with me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, when I reflect, it gives me joy that all your prayers, God has
\nanswered. All your support and solidarity with me all through this period,
\nit is indeed not what I can begin to say. Like what our former chief of
\nstaff, Francis Agboroh said it is \u201cungbikuable\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I am to give testimony of my journey you will not leave here. The only
\ntestimony that I have is the fact that I am back and alive in your midst.
\nAnd again I say that I never had any doubt in my mind that I would get
\nback home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I looked at how things were going, I discovered that they want to
\nseparate me from you people. They want me to go to the corner where I
\nwon\u2019t be seen. That\u2019s how I see it. At a point I called my elder brother
\n(Former Governor Uduaghan) it is how I can get home is what I am about to
\ndo now. It was a pragmatic decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am happy to be home with my people. There is nobody that can battle
\nwith the Lord. Urhobo adage says there is time for everything (okemutie).
\nA day will come when I will tell my story and every one of you will hear
\nme. Today is to thank God\u201d, Ibori said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Delta state governor, Chief James Ibori, has said he had been\u00a0wrongly accused and maligned by those who said he stole, saying \u201cI am not a\u00a0thief, I cannot be a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n