Unbelievable! London Court Awards Ibori £1 Over Unlawful Detention
James Ibori, former Delta State governor[/caption]
In a somewhat bizarre judgment, a London High Court on Tuesday awarded convicted former Delta State Governor James Ibori, a nominal £1 (about N420) as damages over his claim of unlawful detention.
Ibori who returned to Nigeria later this year had in a suit claimed that he was unlawfully detained by the British Home Secretary, Amber Rudd.
The presiding judge in the case, Cheema-Grubb, agreed that the former governor was illegally held between December 20 and 21, 2016.
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The judge said Ibori was unlawfully detained for one day, 18 hours and 10 minutes.
In her ruling, Justice Cheema-Grubb held that Ibori is only entitled to a nominal £1 as against £4,000 in damages demanded by the ex-governor.
The judge said the Home Secretary “failed to have regard to her limits to detain” as attempts were made to claw back millions from him.
On the damages requested by Ibori, the judge ruled: “There is no compensatory loss to Mr Ibori and I fix nominal damages at £1.”
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In February 2012, Ibori was extradited to the United Kingdom for trial following evidence of money laundering gathered against him by the metropolitan police.
He pleaded guilty to 10 criminal charges over huge amounts believed to have been stolen during his two terms as the governor of Delta State.
In April 2012, he was jailed for 13 years, and an order for his deportation was made in May 2015.
