"Which thief is that?"
"The armed robber and looter from Asaba."
"What is this? Doesn't the man have a name?"
"Yes, he has a name: rogue and looter."
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"I know one; his name is James Onanefe Ibori, a real lowlife."
"Are you sure you are not confusing him with the other Ibori who stole building materials in Abuja so many years back? You have to be sure there is no confusion here."
"The one and the same thief pleaded guilty to ten charges before Justice Anthony Pitts at the Southwark Crown Court in London."
"Are you sure of your facts? I ask you again because the man had said again and again that this was a politically motivated witch-hunt."
"He was only deceiving himself. Right inside Court 12, the former governor pleaded guilty and prosecutor Sasha Wass told the court that Ibori had accepted 'the entirety of the prosecution case'."
"So the thief was just bluffing all along? I suspect he is up to his tricks as usual."
"He is no longer bluffing. He knows the English will not fall for his stolen dollars and realized it was better for him to plead guilty and hope for a lighter sentence than waste the time of the court and go down with a heavy sentence."
"But my whole thing is that he's taken the UK justice system on a ride through the oceans, Dubai and eventually London. He's made the British to translate volumes and volumes of documents to Arabic in order to justify his extradition to the UK."
"He thought he could bribe his way out of it and ride the storm."
"I still don't get the guy."
"Why don't you get him? He has so much stolen money running in the billions and he wants a chance to spend it; a chance to live large, enjoy himself and show off his exotic cars, his heavily pillared houses around the world and his women, what don't you get in that?"
"But his women, at least three of them are already in British jails - his wife, his sister, his mistress, even his lawyer! All of them got into trouble, all thanks to him, but he does not want to join them in jail!"
"That is the world for you. The guy is very bad and selfish. He wants to continue to be on the other side of the sweet and sumptuous life while the people he sent and funnel money through are languishing in jail."
"He is a true Nigerian. He will go to jail for ten years and return to shouts of "Rankadede!" from those picking crumbs from his dinner table."
"Are you sure he will have a table left by the time he returns from jail?"
"We are talking about James Onanefe Ibori, the Ogborigogbo of Delta! He will return with fanfare and with a carnival in his honour and his reception will make Alams envious when juxtaposed to Alams' own return from the same UK some years ago, long before OBJ castrated him."
"Are you saying the guy still has a lot of money stashed away somewhere? You can't be serious."
"You are the one who is unaware of the ways of thieves like Ibori and his ilk. I am sure you've heard stories about how millions and billions of dollars can walk off and walk on, drop off the radar and suddenly appear like octopus spread out in the waters with renewed life. The world of the likes of Ibori is paved with lies and loot, and no one can stop or change him."
"But the man was said to be dying at one point. He was said to be in danger of losing some vital organs."
"He was only playing games, but the British did not fall for his area boy game. They know him very well and they were ready to deal with his uniquely Nigerian armed robber attitude with arrogance and swagger. At the end of the day, he was just sad he got caught; he was angry and frustrated that every odu, agbari and deceit he threw at them did not work, mad that he could not frustrate them and he could not bribe them."
"I heard he even offered the Americans a billion dollars to be used for "good causes" in Africa while they leave him alone and allow him to continue with his life of opulence and stolen loot."
"That is strange. Someone stole money from the desperately poor in the Delta and he wants to give it up for "good causes" in other parts of Africa and to be managed by the Americans, and with it he will buy his freedom to jolly-jolly and good life?"
"Were the Americans privy to his loot or what?
"The Americans know everything about him, and the British, too. He's been in jail in the UK before and he is a repeat offender. His story was among the many stories in Wiki Leaks. He even hired an American businessman to help him sell his novel scheme to the American Embassy in Nigeria, but they did not buy it. I guess they found it very ridiculous; like he is a distributor of stolen wealth."
"I am beginning to feel he will likely get a maximum sentence for his crimes. He is a repeat offender, you must remember and he will not be allowed to make mockery of Her Majesty's justice system."
"So you think he will go in for a long time?"
"I think he will go in for at least twenty years. He deserves no less, the thief."
"He worked hard, or is it that he stole hard for it! He earned his way into criminal reckoning."
"The BBC even wrote a wonderful article about him."
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17184075)
"What did they say in the article?"
"They called him a thief."
"Are you serious the BBC called Ibori a thief?"
"Yes they did. In fact, the title of the article was 'James Ibori: How a thief almost became Nigeria's president!"
"What an enviable title and what a reputation."
"The writer of the BBC article traced his criminal life from the time he was a clerical staff at a hardware store Wickes in Neasden, London and colluded with his wife to steal goods from the store. He and his wife were convicted for the theft at the Wickes in 1991 and he was also convicted for stealing a credit card in 1992."
"You can see that stealing is in his blood and hard work is just not his thing."
"The writer even mentioned how the FBI in the US questioned him about how he came by millions of dollars, which was transferred into various accounts in the US."
"The man has a long criminal rap sheet indeed."
"But another shocker was that his age is in dispute!"
"How is that?"
"The UK police believe Ibori previously lied about his age and they are not sure about his true age."
"Could it mean that Ibori does not even have a recollection of his actual date of birth anymore?"
"That is not impossible. If a man kept changing his date of birth, or a woman like Alison-Madueke, he or she will likely end up believing one of the many assumed dates is his/her true and accurate date of birth."
"What a life!"
"It is a life of lies, looting, greed, and ignominy."
"It still beats me that the people of Delta State could not prevent the thief from soiling their good name and from becoming a two-term governor."
"You are talking, eh? He would have been your president! He almost paid his way into Aso Rock!"
"And so what? Aso Rock has always been occupied by thieves anyway. Let me tell you if you don't already know it: Only thieves can get to Aso Rock and only thieves come from Abuja, remember?"
"But I love the mug photo of Ibori the BBC used, the one taken when he was arrested and booked into jail. It's a wonderful photo."
"Can you log in to BBC and show me the story and the mug shot?"
"Here you are. Behold the face of a thief."
"He looked broken, defeated and disheveled."
"He looked defeated alright, but he does not look remorseful."
"Hardened thieves like Ibori are never remorseful, rather they are belligerent and determined to take revenge from those who 'betrayed' them and brought them to justice."
"Which means he now considers all those who prosecuted him as enemies?"
"I don't think Paul Whatmore of the Metropolitan Police Proceeds of Corruption Unit cares. Paul now wants to ensure that Ibori's loot is confiscated 'for the benefit of the people of Delta State.'"
"Which Delta State is that? I don't think Paul knows what is going on in Delta State."
"I don't think he knows. It will be news to him that Ibori was the king maker in Delta and that the current governor was put there by Ibori and he is Ibori's cousin."
"Don't be surprise if the Delta State government put out an advert to condemn the trial and claim that the guilty plea was obtained by foul means from their highly exalted and well respected former governor."
"Deception is a way of life in Nigeria, but it is a strategic option in Delta and Bayelsa States."
"Those two states have problems."
"The problem of heavy looting, serial embezzlement, banditry, acute poverty and huge unemployment are common to both, and yet the two states obtain billions from the federation accounts and the special accounts for oil producing states."
"But to imagine that a judge in Asaba, Delta State dismissed 170 charges against Ibori in 2009 says a lot about how corrupt judges in Nigeria are."
"That judge should be de-robed and kicked out asap."
"It just showed how difficult it is to prosecute looters and thieves in Nigeria, because everybody has a price in Nigeria."
"There are so many cases in court at the moment and it is very unlikely that any of those former governors will be found guilty."
"Except former governor Silva of course, Jonathan will see to it that Silva goes to jail, but the others will have their cases postponed, and postponed, and/or transferred, and then they will secure bail and disappear."
"Bail will come at a fee such as one hundred million naira cash delivered to the home of the judge."
"That is the way of our people and nation, the most corrupt nation in the world."
"As for James Ibori, he should be ready to grow old and haggard in British prisons. He is not likely to get anything less than 15 to 20 years."
"I think he deserves much more, and his sentence should be with hard labour."
"He will now join his wife, sister, mistress and lawyer in jail."
"A thief deserves nothing better than jail. He should be put in the worst of Her Majesty's prisons."
"May your years in jail be tortuous and rough, James Onanefe Ibori."
"He is lucky to be serving prison term at her majesty's pleasure."
"He is the lucky devil of 2012."
"I wish the rest of his ilk in Nigeria such luck."
"The need all the luck they can get."
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