Attempts by the fugitive former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, to seek political asylum in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ran into a hitch Thursday after police authorities in Dubai revoked the bail it granted him on May 13.
The spokesman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Femi Babafemi, said the commission had received official report on the bail revocation. "I can confirm that Mr Ibori is in custody, we were briefed by the authorities in Dubai," he said.
EFCC sources said his arrest was based on the conviction of his associates in UK, the protest from Nigerian authority and the threat to retrieve the license of flight Emirates Airlines and evidence from the EFCC supporting the fact that he fled from Nigeria to evade justice.
On what the EFCC plans to do next, Mr Babafemi said "we will just continue to ensure that he be brought to answer questions either in Nigeria or in the UK."
The EFCC had declared Mr. Ibori wanted as part of its investigation of alleged misuse of state funds while he was governor. Its operatives were on his trail before he sneaked out of the country and turned up in Dubai.
The former Delta State governor was arrested in Dubai by the police on the orders of the International Police (INTERPOL). The operation is linked to the British Metropolitan Police, who has been fighting to have Mr. Ibori extradited to the United Kingdom to face other fraud charges.
Early this week, his sister, Christine Ibori-Ibie, and his female friend, Udoamaka Okoronkwo, were jailed by a UK court after they were found guilty of all charges of money laundering and mortgage fraud.
The women were also found to have helped the former governor move an estimated £70 million worth of looted funds through several London banks during his reign in office from 1999 to 2007.
Mr. Ibori, who was declared wanted by the anti-graft agency weeks ago, in connection with the illegal disposal of 528 million shares belonging to Delta State in Oceanic Bank, refused to turn himself in and thwarted all efforts by the EFCC and the Nigeria Police to arrest him.
A security source, however, said the revocation of Mr. Ibori's bail, following which he was clamped into a Dubai jail, was only one more step in the efforts of the MET to take him to London..
