On 26 July, 2007, a former Bayelsa State Governor, Dieprieye Alamieyeseigha was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment by Justice Mohammed Shuaibu of Federal High Court, Lagos on charges of corruption and money laundering and ordered him to forfeit millions in property and cash.
The former governor who had been under EFCC custody for close to two years before the Court judgement, according to the prison calendar, was said to be free from detention having spent two years in Federal custody. He is expected to face his health problems described as "terrible" by a source.
Diepreye Alamieyeseigha popularly called the Governor-General of Ijaw nation, returned to Bayelsa State in November 2005 after apparently escaping Europe on a forged passport and in a red dress, necklace, head-dress and lipstick. Crowds cheered and waved leaves to welcome back the governor.
The governor was arrested at Heathrow airport in September and had his passport confiscated. He faced three money-laundering charges after police found £1m in cash at his London address and property in his name worth £10m.
Mr. Alamieyeseigha was coy when asked how he evaded British controls to make it back to his village in the Niger delta. "I don't know myself. I just woke up and found myself in Amassoma."
Dressed as a woman, the governor is said to have taken a Eurostar train from London to Paris and then flown to Douala, a port city in Cameroon neighbouring Nigeria, where a speedboat took him home under cover of darkness. The disguise was helped by the fugitive's weight loss during his stay in Europe, which included a tummy tuck operation in Germany.
Thousands lined the streets to cheer his cavalcade through the province but elsewhere several thousand people marched in protest at his return.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), part of the federal government's anti-corruption drive, hinted that it would seek to prosecute him. "What I feel bad about is that Nigeria is viewed as a safe haven for people to be protected," said Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, then commission's chairman.
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