Former Governor of Delta State James Ibori awarded N490 as damages over unlawful detention in the UK

Convicted former Delta state governor, James Ibori, has been awarded £1( N400) by a High court over his claims he was unlawfully detained by Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Ruling on Monday, Justice Cheema-Grubb admitted that he was unlawfully held for one day, 18 hours and 10 minutes between December 20 and 21 last year but ruled that James Ibori, who had claimed £4,000 in damages for breaches of his human rights, is only entitled to a nominal £1 of the sum.

According to her, she said the Home Secretary 'failed to have regard to her limits to detain” as attempts were made to claw back millions from the fraudster.

Rejecting Ibori’s bid for thousands in compensation, the judge ruled: 'There is no compensatory loss to Mr. Ibori and I fix nominal damages at £1.'

Ibori who pleaded guilty to 10 serious criminal charges over the appropriation of massive amounts of public funds during his two terms as governor of Delta State was jailed for 13 years in 2012.

He was released from prison in December 2016 after a court order. He served 4 years out of the 13 years he was sentenced to.