A London court which yesterday ordered the release of the former Governor of Delta State in Nigeria, Chief James Onanefe Ibori from prison, is reported to have also placed him under house arrest in London.

Ibori was released from prison, where he spent six years following his conviction for stealing and laundering Nigeria’s money. He was initially jailed for 13 years but was due for release on Tuesday, December 20, after serving full six years.

Reports reaching us indicate that the London court had ordered that his movement should be restricted to his St. John’s Wood residence. He was also ordered to be reporting to the London Metropolitan Police every week.

The Nigerian politician is due back in court next month for deportation hearing.

Ibori, who was once London store cashier, was jailed for fraud totalling nearly £50 million in April 2012.

He evaded capture in Nigeria after a mob of supporters attacked police but was arrested in Dubai in 2010 and extradited to the UK, where he was prosecuted based on evidence from the Metropolitan Police. [myad]

Embattled Gambia President, Yahya Jammeh, has condemned the West Africa economic bloc, the Economic Community Of West Africa (ECOWAS), for dabbling into the internal problem of his country by asking him to step down following his election defeat.

Speaking at a meeting with members of the African Bar Association (ABA) that was televised in Gambia, President Jammeh said that the position taken by the regional body had violated its own principle of “non-interference in the affairs of a sovereign state.”

“They told me to send a representative only for the representative to be told that… Jammeh must hand over and that on the 19 of January all ECOWAS heads of states will be in the Gambian capital, Banjul to see the inauguration of the president elect,” he said.

“This is violating one rule that says non-interference in the internal affairs of countries…,” he added.

He spoke about the court case where he has challenged the election result.

“Knowing that we have a strong case, they said we should not go to the court and irrespective of the court decision if you proceed – they know that I am going to proceed – they will enforce the December election results.

“Let them enforce it today and see. What are they waiting for? I will not be intimidated by any power in this world.”

Gambia was plunged into a crisis on December 9 after Jammeh rejected the results, a week after conceding defeat to a little known property developer, Adama Barrow.

The term of the long-standing ruler is set to expire on Jan. 19.

Leaders of the ECOWAS had called on Jammeh to step down during its meeting in Nigeria on Dec. 17. They also vowed “to take all necessary action to enforce the [election] results”, without spelling out what those measures might be.

Jammeh, who continues to cling to power, has ruled Gambia with an iron fist for 22 years. Gambians got only “a week of democracy” between the president first declaring he accepts the election result and when he claimed there have been irregularities in the process.

On Dec. 2, Jammeh surprised everyone when he extended a helping hand to his successor on national television. With smiles and jokes, a style uncharacteristic of Gambia’s tough-talking military ruler, he had telephoned Barrow to express his readiness to offer any advice that might be needed.

However, a week later on Friday, Jammeh announced in a nationally-televised address that he was rejecting the outcome of the election in its “totality”, citing irregularities in the process, creating a new political crisis in the country.

Jammeh said he initially accepted the results because he thought it was the “verdict of the Gambian people” before he discovered that “unacceptable irregularities” had taken place, including the alleged disenfranchisement of voters in some cases.

He called for a fresh election that would be supervised by a “completely independent electoral commission and make sure that every Gambian votes.”

He said the ECOWAS delegation had met him and the opposition, and then came back to him to say that the result reflected the will of the Gambian people.

“I said: ‘how the hell do you mean by this is the will of the Gambian people when 360,000 voters have not voted, 40 percent of the registered voters didn’t vote, for the first time’,” he said.

“I made it very clear that I will not accept it and that is where I stand up to today… All I want is to go back to the Gambian people and this is where I stand today, tomorrow and a day after tomorrow for a billion years.”

According to the current “contentious” results of the country’s electoral authorities, Jammeh got 208,487 votes, while Adama Barrow received 227,708 votes and Mamma Kandeh 89,768 votes.

The total voter registration was 886,578 votes which means that 360,615 (or about 41 percent voters) did not vote, a point that Jammeh raised concern about though it was the same percentage of people who did not vote in the 2006 elections as well.

Source: Anadolu Agency. [myad]

Following a firearm attack by a man who is now in police custody, at the US Embassy in Ankara main gate yesterday, the Embassy in Ankara has issued a statement saying that it mission to Turkey will be closed.
According to the statement, an individual approached the US Embassy Ankara main gate and discharged a firearm. There have been no reported injuries and the individual is in police custody.
The statement said: “due to this incident, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, and the U.S. Consulate in Adana will be closed for normal operations on Tuesday.”
The US Mission also reminded US citizens to review personal security plans, ensure communication connectivity and maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance personal security.
US Ambassador to Turkey, John Bass, twitted on Monday: “I condemn in the strongest terms the heinous attack on Ambassador Karlov,”
The Arts and Culture Centre of the municipality of Ankara’s Cankaya district, where Russia’s Ambassador, Andrei Karlov was shot dead on Monday, was only 50 metres to the US Embassy.
Meanwhile, the US Consulate in Adana informed US citizens that general demonstrations would take place between Ataturk Park and Adana’s Central Train Station.
The participants were expected to demonstrate against recent violent terrorist attacks throughout the country and against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
Report said that previous such demonstrations in other cities also included anti-American messages, even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. [myad]