Cecilia Ibru very ill
•How she collapsed three times during trial
By Olusola Balogun
Sunday, October 10, 2010



Convicted former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank PLC, Mrs Cecilia Ibru,is seriously ill and might need a miracle to survive the 18-month jail term slammed on her last Friday, without urgent medical assistance.

Justice Dan Abutu of Federal High Court, Lagos, convicted Mrs Ibru, who was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 25-count charge, after she pleaded guilty to three of the charges.

She is also to forfeit assets worth N191billion comprising of 49 properties located in Nigeria, United States, Dubai, and the United Arab Emirate.

But an EFCC source told Sunday Sun that the former bank chief “ would need a miracle to complete her jail term and come out alive because of her health challenges and that was perhaps why the judge ordered that she be taken to highbrow Reddington Hospital, Lagos, for continuation of her treatment.”

He disclosed, “she is seriously ill and she actually collapsed three times in the course of her trial. The first time was in August 2009 when she collapsed in the dock, the second time was on September 13, 2010 in Lagos while signing some documents and again on Friday after she was convicted.” The source revealed, “We have reason to believe that she has cardiac problems and might need the assistance of a surgeon to be able to live healthy again.”

Indeed, a source that visited her in detention added, “She once held my hand while in detention and her skin was burning hot. Her temperature of her hands was like the inside of an oven and she looked very pale with swollen legs. If you see her you will know she surely needs medical help.”

The EFCC source noted, “with the present condition of the woman, I doubt if she can withstand the rigours of prison life. She will need a miracle; our detention condition is far better than what she will discover in prison and my guess is she is not likely to be able to go through a week in prison without collapsing. How the prisons authorities would handle her health challenge is up to them, but surely she will need an elaborate medical attention.”

Another EFCC sources claimed it was because of the health challenges that Mrs Ibru did not allow her lawyers to use technicalities to delay the case. “She just wanted to get the case over with and face the music. She refused the long route that her lawyers gave her to delay the case. Apparently she wanted to get over this phase of her life as quickly as possible so that she can treat herself properly. Even the Commission was amazed at the way she decided to go for the trial promptly and even pleaded guilty to some of the charges. We were expecting her to deploy the usual delay tactics and stunts lawyers pull on EFCC.”

The source also added that the EFCC was amazed at the magnitude of the asset of the former bank chief. “Those assets are far too much for one person and you will ask yourself how she could have amassed all that as assets and yet the bank she headed did not collapse. And she was not in custody of the wealth of the entire Ibru family? The only plausible answer is that she was probably a conduit pipe for some people involved in money laundering and she just ploughed the money into assets.”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2010/oct/10/newsbreak-10-10-2010-001.htm

then let everyone in prison go to their houses and continue serving there terms there, this is insane, If bode george can make it then cecilla can too.

All na lie,too ill to do what?too bad naija no sincere,they should have given her 50years without remission and c how prison will cure her of greed,anyway we dey wait for her in prison.ibru c u soon!

She is too ill! Ofcourse it's obvious! Only a sick mind will do what she did! Sick ko ill ni!

Hey, how about putting her out of her misery by placing her in the general prison population ? 

Her head could then be recycled for animist fetish rituals, thus allowing her to further a good cause, despite her unbroken career of epic greed and theft.

They should keep her in the VIP cell

She brought it upon herself, so let her carry her cross.

“She just wanted to get the case over with and face the music. She refused the long route that her lawyers gave her to delay the case. Even the Commission was amazed at the way she decided to go for the trial promptly and even pleaded guilty to some of the charges. We were expecting her to deploy the usual delay tactics and stunts lawyers pull on EFCC.”

The source also added that the EFCC was amazed at the magnitude of the asset of the former bank chief. “Those assets are far too much for one person and you will ask yourself how she could have amassed all that as assets and yet the bank she headed did not collapse. And she was not in custody of the wealth of the entire Ibru family? The only plausible answer is that she was probably a conduit pipe for some people involved in money laundering.

Anyone that is capable of reading between the lines would take it easy with the woman. Fine, she was greedy and deserves the repercussions, but it is indeed true that she is ill, and in fact remorseful and I dare say penitent. Only that can explain the speedy determination of her case. Like the EFCC "source" said, she could easily have used her wealth and crack legal team to delay the case with umpteen technicalites (e.g. like the many ex-governors the EFCC previously prosecuted, how many of them have been convicted. . .2-3 years after prosecution?).

Again, it is impossible that the so-called N191b worth of assets belong to her alone, or are proceeds of her mismanagement of Oceanic Bank; how much is the darn bank worth? And up until Sanusi bombed her out of the place, the bank was still waxing strong, paying staff salaries as and when due, giving depositors unhindered access to their funds, and issuing new loans. So how come the bank could still function at full capacity despite supposedly having been despoiled and stripped of a colossal N191b? Something doesn't add up. I strongly agree that the bulk of that money belongs to other shadowy elements (largely politicians. . .including Ibori, I suspect) she was fronting for. Too bad she has to go down alone. But that woman would die if she stays up to a month in any of our deplorable prisons. I suspect they'll arrange the Alamieyeseigha option for her instead (i.e. see out the jail sentence in hospital).

are nigerian journalist not worse than the police so? what has her health got to do with her crime and sentence, if you can,t do the time don,t do the crime haba journalist!!!

if she is allowed to stay at home for her punishment, then she should have bagged life jail so she can be a prisoner in her house for ever. this is ridiculous, she is setting the stage for the other bank MDs and corrupt people in general. Dont be surprised when next you see corrupt people begging to serve their jail term @ home due to failing health.Thats what i called jailterm made easy courtesy cecelia Ibru. She should pls carry her stuff and go for the 6 months break from all her usual goodies. Welcome to kirikiri Madam. Pls give her the VIP suite, because of her ill-health

Too strong to loot | too ill to serve. What an irony

ONLY IN NIGERIA!     
THE PARADISE OF THE ELITE CRIMINALS
Let her try this in China! mtsheww

Cecilia Ibru Very Ill:can't Make Jail Unless She's Allowed 2 Serve From Home

Kai, Naija na real fertile ground for criminals. After stealing, you are deciding where to serve prison term too. Na wa o.

I thought she stole because she believes "Wealth is Health", then why is she sick with all that wealth? Nonsense.

Abeg, let her be thrown inside the public cell, let those petty thieves handle her. Ewu, I am sick. Ino mkpo.

jamace:

Kai, Naija na real fertile ground for criminals. After stealing, you are deciding where to serve prison term too. Na wa o.

I thought she stole because she believes "Wealth is Health", then why is she sick with all that wealth? Nonsense.

Abeg, let her be thrown inside the public cell, let those petty thieves handle her. Ewu, I am sick. Ino mkpo.

Lol!

df2006:

are nigerian journalist not worse than the police so? what has her health got to do with her crime and sentence, if you can,t do the time don,t do the crime haba journalist!!!

That's what lawyers use to buy leniency for their clients. Remember they played the same game after Bode George's conviction.

jabbok:

Too strong [/b]to loot | too ill to serve. What an irony

Shut up joor. She was too [b]weak to loot, that's why she couldn't loot more than Akingbola. Have mercy on a sick sister.

Deep Soul:

Is this not the same Nigeria where some lady accused of fraud recently gave birth to a baby in prison??

Talk about double standards. . . .or is it quadruple now?

Conjugal visits are legal in Nigerian prisons. So, a woman can get pregnant in jail. Obidiozor Otokoto impregnated a woman while he was in jail.

Deep Soul:

^^Firstly, I didnt know conjugal visits were legal in 9ja. Are you sure the woman wasn't smuggled in??

Anyways, the woman I referred to was already heavily pregnant when she was arrested. Point I was tryin to make is, they didnt see the need for her to get medical attention up until she got to the point of child birth. Not applying the same principle to Aunty Sisi would be seen as double standards

No it's not. Pregnancy is not a disease unlike Cecilia who is diseased.

Aloy+Emeka:

Conjugal visits are legal in Nigerian prisons. So, a woman can get pregnant in jail. Obidiozor Otokoto impregnated a woman while he was in jail.

You sure know about nigeria prison very well. .

Deep Soul:

You are saying a pregnant woman's need for medical attention is minimal when compared with Sisi's case?

Yes; Cecilia has identified illness which could be fatal but a pregnant woman has no identified illness other than she is pregnant. No biggie.

Do you know how many women have died from childbirth-related cases?

That's a different issue. Others die from food related cases, prison related violence, etc. Should we exempt them too?. Pregnancy is not a disease and has never qualified any woman to stay away from jail.

By the way, what exactly is wrong with her? Can't we get full details?

I don't know either. May be it is a ploy to get her to serve from a hotel room.

And if her need for a doctor is that urgent, she should be in a hospital chained to her bed till she's certified fit to be in jail

Why chain her?. Did she commit a capital offense?. Her crime is no more than a small time pickpocket who snatched a cellphone from an old woman. You need to understand the way the law works.

~Bluetooth:

You sure know about nigeria prison very well. .

I learned it while I was visiting in at kirikiri. I used to bring Ngozi and Ileke-Ijeoma for you those days. remember?

Aloy+Emeka:

I learned it while I was visiting in at kirikiri. I used to bring Ngozi and Ileke-Ijeoma for you those days. remember?

You must have had a terrible experience then ? Who are those chics ?

so now she is too ill to go to jail? If she is going to die she better die there. So many people live in Nigeria and dont have access to that kind of money, they are not in jail but die because of lack and greedy people like her. If you do the crime you better do the time. If they let her stay under house arrest, there is no lesson learned from this for other looters. In the future looters will claim they are sick too, and house arrest will replace prison for them. Please Madam Ibru, go to jail, do not pass Go. Get ready to wear your jumpsuit, lose your freedom and spend 18months with regular people that you robbed. I am sure it would be an educative experience for her. She will develop a conscience.

The source also added that the EFCC was amazed at the magnitude of the asset of the former bank chief. “Those assets are far too much for one person and you will ask yourself how she could have amassed all that as assets and yet the bank she headed did not collapse. And she was not in custody of the wealth of the entire Ibru family? The only plausible answer is that she was probably a conduit pipe for some people involved in money laundering and she just ploughed the money into assets.”

Which means she did a good job abi?

N191billion, kai. . .these sorts of figures are mind-boggling to say the very least. With that I'll have a private army that is better armed than the entire Nigerian armed forces. The EFCC would need NATO, CIA and MOSSAD to arrest me. N191billion! Hard work sucks.

naija

we ahev all master the abuse of health issues

na so peps wey wan redeploy during nysc go claim health reasons

or peeps wey no want cut grass for school go claim asthmatic

TewMuch:

so now she is too ill to go to jail? If she is going to die she better die there. So many people live in Nigeria and dont have access to that kind of money, they are not in jail but die because of lack and greedy people like her. If you do the crime you better do the time. If they let her stay under house arrest, there is no lesson learned from this for other looters. In the future looters will claim they are sick too, and house arrest will replace prison for them. Please Madam Ibru, go to jail, do not pass Go. Get ready to wear your jumpsuit, lose your freedom and spend 18months with regular people that you robbed. I am sure it would be an educative experience for her. She will develop a conscience.

You think so?. They will not put her in the same cell with common criminals because her crime is not common. She will be in a special VIP cell and her family is allowed to provide her daily bread with a maid attached to the prisons to wash, clean  and bring her newspapers with coffee in the morning. The only thing she will be losing is her freedom besides, she can bribe all the wardens and get them to be opening the cell for her every night so she can sleep in a nearby plush hotel.

~Bluetooth:

You must have had a terrible experience then ? Who are those chics ?

You forgot the chic that gave you your first STD?

Is she the one giving the ultimatum? Dont we have a Nigerian jail that can tend to her health issues?

Goes to show that money cant buy health.