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A Nigerian state governor charged with money laundering in Britain has escaped disguised as a woman and returned to his home state, where he enjoys immunity from prosecution.
YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - A Nigerian state governor charged with money laundering in Britain has escaped disguised as a woman and returned to his home state, where he enjoys immunity from prosecution.
The return of Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, governor of Bayelsa state in the oil-producing Niger Delta, deals a severe blow to President Olusegun Obasanjo's campaign to curb theft of public resources by some state governors.
"As he drove into town, the streets were lined with crowds of people waving white handkerchiefs and jubilating," said Oronto Douglas, a commissioner in the Bayelsa state government.
"He came into government house, knelt down and prayed. Then he addressed thousands thanking the Ijaw people for bringing him back," he said from the Bayelsa state capital Yenagoa.
The Ijaw are the dominant ethnic group in the southern Niger Delta. Alamieyeseigha's detention in Britain was interpreted by many Ijaw as a slight on them as he is the only Ijaw among Nigeria's 36 state governors.
Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it would continue its investigation into Alamieyeseigha's financial dealings and would do whatever Nigerian law allowed to bring him to justice.
"It's a tragedy, it's a challenge to us and to our justice system," EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu told a news conference in the federal capital Abuja.
"We know that he dressed as a woman. We know that he forged documents to gain entrance and pass through undetected both at the UK side and the Nigerian side," he said, adding that Alamieyeseigha had slipped into Nigeria on Sunday evening.
Alamieyeseigha had earlier told supporters in his home village of Amassoma in Bayelsa that the way he escaped was a "mystery" he would explain at the appropriate time.
A MILLION POUNDS IN CASH
Many of the governor's loyalists allege that he is being persecuted because of his allegiance to Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is engaged in a fierce power struggle with Obasanjo ahead of the next presidential election in 2007.
Asked about this allegation, Ribadu said the EFCC had no interest in politics, and being in politics was not a licence to steal public funds and then complain of persecution.
A British court charged Alamieyeseigha in September with laundering 1.8 million pounds and he was given bail on condition that he did not travel abroad. He had handed in his passport and a large bail bond to authorities in London.
During their investigation, police found 1 million pounds in cash in his London home.
Nigeria is ranked sixth most corrupt country in the world by independent watchdog Transparency International.
Obasanjo says his government is fighting corruption, and a handful of people in high places have lost their jobs or been charged. But critics say the anti-graft campaign targets only Obasanjo's opponents, leaving his allies undisturbed.
Alamieyeseigha's immunity from prosecution runs out when he steps down. His term ends in 2007.
He is the second Nigerian state governor to escape British justice after Joshua Dariye of Plateau state, who was under investigation for money laundering, returned home in 2004. He is now wanted by police.
(Additional reporting by Estelle Shirbon and Tom Ashby in Abuja)