When the trial of three of James Ibori’s female associates commenced in London on Monday, the thieving former governor of Delta State had thought he would exercise control over its coverage. As soon as his associates were docked before his honor, Judge Christopher Hardy, their lawyers launched a massive effort to obtain a media ban.
They experienced limited success when the judge agreed to ban the UK media from covering the trial until at least January 2010 when a second set of trials involving his first wife, Theresa Nkoyo, and his lawyer Bhadresh Gohil, would commence.
It was Ibori’s calculation that with the British media out of the way, he could seize control of the Nigerian media using a sizeable bribe budget and deploy his propaganda over Nigerians. In anticipation of the trial, Ibori had set up a website to counter Saharareporters with two former journalists: Tony Eluemunor and Sunday Are, leading a core of staff “writers.” They had also set up an “anti-bloggers” unit to sneak into and control Internet chat-rooms and social networking websites such as Facebook and Naijapolitics.
To take a large chunk of the Nigerian print media, Ibori had directed the Delta State government to buy a huge dome from Nigerian media wheeler-dealer, Nduka Obaigbena of ThisDay, an arrangement he had initially opposed because he does not trust Obaigbena. The transaction was concluded before the trial commenced. When Saharareporters spoke to the Delta State Commissioner of Information, Omah Djebah, about the transaction, he told our reporter that Delta needed the “ThisDay Dome” to host the upcoming “Governors Forum”. Obaigbena was having problems keeping the Dome on a Lagos state property he illegally acquired at Lekki, as the current Lagos State governor refused to let him continue his regular jamborees at the venue. The Delta State government did not disclose how much it paid for the Dome.
ThisDay commenced the payback last week when the paper began a sloppy reporting of the recent V-Mobile scam involving Yar’Adua’s Principal Private Secretary, David Edevbie. The paper claimed that Mr. Edevbie was not declared wanted by the London Metropolitan police saying they had spoken to an officer over the phone. It further claimed that Edevbie was planning to “resign” and to visit the UK to clear his name, but when Saharareporters countered with proof of the Edevbie’s involvement, the paper offered another ruse the following day claiming that Edevbie was not on “trial,” in the UK, although it published the charge sheet which listed Edevbie in the first. Edevbie, to our knowledge, has not honoured his resignation boast.
By yesterday, ThisDay continued on the mission by regurgitating a report personally written by Ibori’s media aide, Tony Elumenor, regarding Day 2 of the trial, the web version of the story did not carry a byline. Also, the Vanguard newspaper shamelessly repeated Tony Eluemunor’s report. With ThisDay out of his way, Ibori needed not worry about The Guardian newspaper, whose family owners (The Ibrus) are entangled in the same predicament with Ibori in the toxic bank loans scams. Other newspapers, with the exception of The Punch, 234NEXT and Leadership, are being taken care of by a special budget for that purpose created by Ibori.
Things have not turned out as planned for Ibori as Facebook and Saharareporters have become choice destinations for those seeking the latest information on the trials. A photo of Ibori’s sister, Christie and his mistress, Udoamaka Onuigbo, taken as they left the courtroom on Monday, has shocked the Ibori’s team. Observers noted that his wife, Nkoyo, whose court dates begin in January 2010, was not in court to support her sister-in-law or her husband’s mistress.
http://www.saharareporter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3777:london-money-laundering-trial-ibori-launches-propaganda-offensive-to-keep-nigerians-misinformed&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18
No comments:
Post a Comment