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The dramatic search for James
Ibori, the former Delta State governor who has been declared wanted for
financial misdemeanour, by the Nigerian Police and the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), may be nothing but a ruse.

Sources who spoke with NEXT over
the weekend said that not only is Mr. Ibori hiding in Agbor, a town in
his home state, but the two anti corruption agencies, the EFCC and the
police, are aware of Mr. Ibori’s whereabouts. Contrary to reports that
the former governor has been hiding in his country home in Oghara, he
is allegedly hiding with a friend of his in Agbor, a small town which
is about 2 hours away from Oghara.

Multiple sources in the Nigerian
security circles told NEXT that the EFCC is aware of Mr. Ibori’s
current location and that this would not be the first time that the
anti corruption agency would be feigning ignorance of his whereabouts.

“The EFCC knows that Ibori is not
in his hometown. When the EFCC first said that they were looking for
Ibori and went looking for him in Oghara, they knew that he was right
here in Abuja. He was at that time in the Kwara Guest House, in
Asokoro,” a source said.

The police’s charade

Behind the elaborate display
shown by the Nigerian police in a bid to arrest Mr. Ibori, was an
apparent decision to do the contrary, sources said. Security sources
who spoke to NEXT said the authority chosen to effect Mr. Ibori‘s
arrest, showed that the police was not really interested in arresting
the former governor.

“If they really wanted to arrest
him, why would they pick the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG),
for works and for operations to be in charge of the operation? Why not
use the DIG in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department,”
a security source queried.

“The police intelligence is fully
aware of Ibori’s movement but there appears to be the lack of
operational will,” our source added.

The police spokesman, Emmanuel
Ojukwu however denied that the police has any knowledge of Mr. Ibori’s
current location saying that the police is still looking for the former
governor.

“We are still looking for him
wherever he is. I cannot say that the police is aware of where he is
but all I can say is that we are looking for him,” Mr. Ojukwu said.

EFCC responds

The EFCC also says that it is at
the moment working on a new strategy to beat Mr. Ibori to his game. A
strategy which the commission says it is no longer interested in
sharing with the Nigerian public.

“We don’t want to discuss this
because every information we give out gets back to him [Mr. Ibori],”
the spokesman of the commission, Femi Babafemi, told NEXT in Abuja.

Mr. Ibori’s spokesperson, Tony
Elumunor, however said that Mr. Ibori’s current location is not
relevant and should not be a subject of public debate.

“The man you are talking about is
a private citizen and he is not on the run but simply obeying the court
ruling which asked that everyone should maintain the status quo,” Mr.
Elumunor said in a telephone interview with NEXT.

In the last two weeks, media
reports have placed Mr. Ibori in several places; Oghara- his home town,
the Niger-Delta Creeks, and as having escaped the country en route
Dubai. The latest location,

has in history served as a refuge for a larcenous prince who ran away from his home town.