Controversy trails alleged arrest of Ajimobi’s wife in London

The Guardian (Nigeria) [30/10/12]

• She wasn’t involved in money laundering, says Oyo govt

A CONTROVERSY raged yesterday over the alleged arrest of the wife of Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi in London.

Ajimobi’s wife, Florence, was alleged to have been arrested by the London Metropolitan Police over her involvement in the laundering of £400,000 (about N500 million.)

But the Oyo State government denied the report. It went further to institute a N1 billion suit against the Independent Communications Network Limited, publishers of PM News over its report on the arrest of Mrs. Ajimobi on the allegation of money laundering.

In a statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Festus Adedayo, he stated that the government of Oyo State had the responsibility to ensure that the media does not become an instrument in the hands of blackmailers for such acts.

The evening newspaper yesterday published a piece entitled “Anxiety over Florence Ajimobi’s alleged arrest in UK” wherein it published a story purportedly written by an online agency named Newsleak, which alleged that the wife of the governor had been arrested in London for money laundering.

The statement read in part: “We want to state unequivocally that this report is not only wicked, it is the figment of the imagination of the writers. Mrs. Ajimobi was never arrested for any offence whatsoever. Even though our investigations have shown that this is the work of some arrowheads of the opposition, it was done in such an amateurish way that beats the imagination of any responsible reader.”

The government said that though it had a lot of respect for the media, there was the need to take the owners of the tabloid to court to explain the details of their reports to the rest of the world.

The government decried what it called “dirty politicking” by the opposition in the state who use the media for the propagation of their falsehood, stating that the courts would be able to compel those behind this wicked lie to provide details of the veracity or otherwise of their claims on the governor’s wife.

Reports on the web and some blogs claimed that Mrs. Ajimobi was arrested two weeks ago by the London Metropolitan Police on her 52nd trip to the United Kingdom since her husband became governor 17 months ago.

London Metropolitan Police has not issued any statement about her alleged arrest.

The unconfirmed reports claimed that Governor Abiola Ajimobi has had to fly to the UK to get her bailed. Mrs. Ajimobi has a North London address in Golders Green and ordinarily visits the UK.