Posted by Senan John Murray, London on
The London Metropolitan Police on Tuesday morning arrested Mrs. Margaret Alamieyeseigha, the wife of the embattled Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who is standing trial on charges of money laundering.
The London Metropolitan Police on Tuesday morning arrested Mrs. Margaret Alamieyeseigha, the wife of the embattled Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who is standing trial on charges of money laundering.
The press unit of the Paddington Police Station told our correspondent that Alamieyeseigha's wife was arrested at 09:20 (10:20am Nigerian time) in connection with the ongoing investigation into the money laundering charges against her husband.
'She is being held at the West London Police Station," a policewoman at the press unit told our correspondent.
A source close to the governor's family said officers of the London Metropolitan Police arrived at his Edgware Road residence, Southwest London, on Tuesday morning and requested to see the governor's wife.
An unsuspecting Mrs. Alamieyeseigha came to the sitting room to see the officers, who informed her she was being arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation into her husband's alleged crime.
Although she reportedly protested her innocence, the officers were said to have warned her not to make comments that might be used against her in court.
Unconfirmed reports on Tuesday night said her arrest might not be unconnected with £250,000 allegedly traced to her account.
Our source said that the governor's wife was taken to the Paddington Police Station, but an enquiry at the press unit of the police station revealed that she was actually being held at the West London Police Station, which is also under the jurisdiction of the Westminster Borough Police Command.
It was learnt that in his statement to the police after his arrest on September 15, Alamieyeseigha had claimed that the £1.8 million pounds found in his London residence was part of a fund initiated by his wife to procure sewing machines and other self-help materials for distribution to women in Bayelsa State.
The police perhaps thought arresting the governor's wife might help in tracing the true source of the money.
At press time, Alamieyeseigha's new all-white team of lawyers was frantically battling to secure his wife's release from police custody.
A source at the governor's residence alleged that Mrs. Alamieyeseigha's arrest was the concluding phase of a conspiracy against the embattled governor.
He argued that the timing of her arrest and the alleged pressure by the Nigerian presidency on the Bayelsa House of Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings against the governor, who has been stranded in London for almost two months, were suspect.
The source added, 'When I say this whole thing is more than a question of British law, you people (press) will tell me it's not true, but see what's happening now?
'You still think it's not victimisation? My friend, the truth is that Aso Rock is orchestrating this whole thing.
'I just read in your paper (PUNCH), that the President met with Dr. Goodluck (Jonathan) and ordered him to convince the state House of Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings against the governor; and less than 24 hours later, his wife is arrested. Haba! Even a blind man can see what's going on in this whole matter!"
A non-governmental organisation based in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State, Opu Bayelsa, described the London court appearance and statement of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo, as a clear demonstration that the Federal Government and the British authorities were not interested in justice, but in persecuting the governor.
According to the group, 'For the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General to waste taxpayers money and fly to a foreign country to tell a foreign government to treat its own citizen in a manner which is not fair, just and equitable as that country treats its citizens, is not only preposterous but cruel."
The PUNCH, Wednesday, November 09, 2005