By Onigegewura
The flight from Germany to London Heathrow Airport was short and smooth. A passenger in the first class section of the aircraft however wished the flight was shorter. He had just been discharged from a hospital in Germany where he was operated on for three hours and sixteen minutes. His stitches had been removed only a few hours earlier and he was planning to rest for some days in London before going back to Nigeria.
The aircraft had hardly stopped when the passenger noticed that officers of the London Metropolitan Police had surrounded the plane. Some of them entered the plane and asked in a very loud voice: “Will Mr. Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and his two children kindly step forward?”
Chief Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, the governor of Bayelsa State was surprised at the announcement. He managed to lift himself up from his seat, taking extra care because of his recently operated tummy. As a former military officer, he was however not afraid. He knew that once he identified himself as a serving executive Governor in Nigeria, they would apologise profusely for their mistake and allow him to go.
The governor however sensed that this was not just another routine check when the senior police officer who collected his diplomatic passport told him he was under arrest for money laundering. The governor was not a legal practitioner, but he knew enough law to know that a governor enjoyed immunity from arrest and prosecution. He told the officers that he could not be arrested as a serving governor and that technically he was not yet on British soil under international law as he was yet to disembark from the plane.
His legal arguments, however, fell on the deaf ears of the British officers. They insisted that he must be arrested and that his country had waived his constitutional immunity. He was immediately handcuffed. When he was asked whether he knew a particular lady, he knew instantly that he had inadvertently walked into a cleverly laid trap.
He was politely informed that his London home would be searched. He demanded to see a warrant. It was shown to him. It was clear that they were leaving nothing to search. At his residence at 247 Water Gardens in Paddington area of London, the sum of GBP920, 000 in British pounds sterling and United States dollar was discovered in a safe. It was at this point that His Excellency was taken to Ilford Police Station where he was formally arrested for money laundering.
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