Former Delta State Governor James Ibori has said he was wrongly accused by those who called him a thief. Speaking yesterday at his home town, Oghara, where his kinsmen held a thanksgiving service for him, following his release from a United Kingdom (UK) prison, he said
�I am not a thief; I cannot be a thief,��They want me to go to the corner where I won�t be seen.�Today, I have decided to speak for myself. I am not a thief; I cannot be a thief. Today is the day they say I should give testimony to God. For those who know me, you know that my life is a testimony itself. I have said it over and again that my life is fashioned by God, directed by God, sealed, acknowledged and blessed by God. I believe that since the day I was born.
�Like the Archbishop said, when this whole commotion started, what was most painful to me was the pain and suffering that my people were going through.
�It has nothing to do with me as a person because, for some reasons, like I said to you, I drew my strength from God. So, somehow, I knew that God would stand by me. I knew that one day, this day would come. I am indeed very pleased that I can now stand before you and look at your faces, the faces that I have missed, and those of you who have indeed suffered the pains of my absence. It has nothing to do with me.
�So, when I reflect, it gives me joy that all your prayers, God has answered them, with your support and solidarity with me all through this period. It is indeed not what I can begin to say.
�Like what our former Chief of Staff, Francis , said it is �ungbikuable�. If I am to give testimony of my journey, you will not leave here. The only testimony that I have is the fact that I am back and alive in your midst. And again, I say that I never had any doubt in my mind that I would get back home.
�When I looked at how things were going, I discovered that they wanted to separate me from you, my people. They wanted me to go to the corner where I wouldn�t be seen. That�s how I see it. At a point, I called my older brother (former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan): �How to get home is what I am about to do now�. It was a pragmatic decision.
�I am happy to be home with my people. There is nobody who can battle with the Lord. An Urhobo adage says there is time for everything (okiemute). A day will come when I will tell my story and everyone of you will hear me. Today is to thank God.�
