Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has ordered his repatriation to Liberia though he is primarily wanted by the war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone.

He went missing on Monday from his southern Nigerian villa after Nigeria said Liberia was free to detain him.

Mr Taylor went into exile in 2003 in a deal ending Liberia's civil war.

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- Former Liberian warlord Charles Taylor, who vanished in Nigeria after authorities reluctantly agreed to transfer him to a war crimes tribunal, has been arrested trying to cross that country's border, Nigerian police said Wednesday.

Taylor, who went missing Monday night, was caught at Nigeria's southern border with Cameroon, national police spokesman Haz Iwendi told The Associated Press.

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Taylor to Be Repatriated to Liberia

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: March 29, 2006

Filed at 5:38 a.m. ET

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigeria's president ordered Wednesday that captured warlord Charles Taylor be immediately deported to Liberia, where is wanted on war crimes charges.

President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is on a visit to the United States, ordered his ''immediate repatriation'' to Liberia, Information Minister Frank Nweke said in a statement.

Taylor, who vanished Monday after Nigerian authorities reluctantly agreed to transfer him to a war crimes tribunal, was caught at Nigeria's border with Cameroon, national police spokesman Haz Iwendi told The Associated Press.

By Tabassum Zakaria

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nigeria faces "consequences" for the disappearance of exiled former Liberian leader Charles Taylor if he is not handed over to stand trial on war crimes charges, the United States said on Tuesday.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan would not say whether President George W. Bush would still meet with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo as scheduled on Wednesday.

"Right now we are looking for answers from the Nigerian government about the whereabouts of Charles Taylor," McClellan said.

Nigeria, which has been pressed by Washington to end Taylor's asylum there, said during the weekend that Liberia was free to take the former warlord into custody.

But on Tuesday, just as Obasanjo was scheduled to leave Abuja for Washington, Nigerian officials said Taylor had disappeared from his residence in the southeastern part of the country on Monday night.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was Nigeria's responsibility to hand over Taylor for prosecution, warning of "consequences" if it did not happen.

"We consider it a very serious matter, senator, if he has indeed escaped, very serious," Rice told Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Leahy pushed Rice to cancel Obasanjo's meeting with Bush, a request Rice did not address.

Rice stressed Obasanjo had promised to closely monitor Taylor and turn him over once a new Liberian government was in place.

"If we are no longer on course for that then we will have to examine why this happened and have consequences accordingly," said Rice, without specifying what the consequences would be.

Taylor had lived in Nigeria since 2003 when he stepped down as president and after Obasanjo helped broker a peace deal to end Liberia's 14-year civil war that spilled over into nearby countries. Taylor is wanted on war crimes charges by a special U.N.-backed court in Sierra Leone.

"It is the responsibility of the Nigerian government to see that he is conveyed to the special court for Sierra Leone," McClellan said. "We expect the government of Nigeria to fulfill this commitment."

Sen. Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat, said Bush should cancel his Obasanjo meeting to send a message that "the United States stands unequivocally for bringing Charles Taylor to justice."

"The inability of the government of Nigeria to provide adequate security around the residence of Charles Taylor, one of the world's worst war criminals, is inexcusable," Obama said.

Republican Rep. Ed Royce of California, a member of the House of Representatives International Relations Committee, said countries should not consider giving Taylor sanctuary.

"Such action will be met with stiff opposition in the U.S. Congress -- including serious sanctions," he said.

Rep. Chris Smith, the New Jersey Republican who chairs a House subcommittee on Africa, said the United States "must review our relationship with Nigeria in light of Taylor's escape and should immediately authorize a substantial financial bounty" to help ensure his capture.

Taylor is accused in Sierra Leone of supporting rebels notorious for hacking off the limbs of civilians, in exchange for diamonds to finance the Liberian conflict.

The two conflicts claimed an estimated 300,000 lives and spawned a generation of child soldiers.

(Additional reporting by Vicki Allen and Sue Pleming)

All of those supposed to have been guarding him have been arrested.

At the weekend, Nigeria said it would let him be picked up, but both Liberia and the US said Nigeria should send him to a UN-backed war crimes court.

Mr Taylor stepped down as president in 2003 under a deal to end the Liberian civil war, which he started in 1989.

He went into exile in Calabar, in south-eastern Nigeria.

The BBC's Mark Doyle in Freetown says there are powerful political forces at play over Mr Taylor's fate.

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 28.03.2006 07:56

O' No

# 2 This is a huge embarassment on Nigeria that it cannot take him into custody and allows him to escape...he must have spoken to Alamieseiyegha. What a shame....he must be brought to justice. Posted by O' No| 28.03.2006 07:59

gwobezentashi  Villager

# 3 Speaking on Monday evening on the BBC's Focus on Africa programme, Joseph Ushigiale, spokesman for the Nigerian state where Mr Taylor is living, said that he was "under very good protective custody" and had taken part in the just-ended census in Nigeria. "We can assure you Mr Taylor will not just walk away." Well he seems to have done just that! So is this carelessness, incompetence or complicity? Take your pick. Aluta! Gwobezentashi Posted by gwobezentashi| 28.03.2006 08:35

sanabdalla

# 4 If this is true then it is an absolute disgrace to President Obasanjo. Obasanjo should be ashamed of himself, presiding over the most unsecured country in the world. It goes to show that the whole country will wake up one day and discover that it has been occupied from Maiduguri to Lagos and from Sokoto to Calabar, and we will blame ghosts for doing so. What a disgrace? Governors sneaking in by boat, by plane, by car, and by other means, Taylor sneaking out by whatever means, how will Obasanjo face the world? IG of Police, all Service Chiefs, Dir of SSS, NIA and Attorney General should be fired. PDP Government should go...what a disgrace? We only specialise in harrassing and persecuting political opponents while thugs and gangsters have taken over our land. God save us. President Bush should shove off Obasanjo from Washington and put him on the next flight to Bonny Camp. Kolade should be sacked from London and be taken to Okitipupa. Jeeeeesssssseeee!!!! Posted by sanabdalla| 28.03.2006 08:39

Na Lie

# 5 I think Nigeria let him off. You go find him yourself,that is what naija is say to the rest of the world and the Liberia goverment. We ve done our bits! Posted by Na Lie| 28.03.2006 08:55

Suspecious

# 6 How are we sure OBJ was not in on this escape? Perhaps Taylor was abducted by American bounty hunters. Posted by Suspecious| 28.03.2006 08:57

Tochukwu  Villager

# 7 Wonderful, fantastic and very much expected. Only yesterday Obasanjo administration was saying that Liberia should go and pick Mr Taylor in Calabar. What a farce. How can Liberia go to Calabar to arrest Taylor when Liberia does not have extradition treaty with Nigeria. Besides, this is unpracticable as Nigeria is a sovreign state and would never allow this to happen. This is another inglorious feather to Obasanjo's cap. He is being accused of being good African but a very bad Nigerian. Now it is clear that Mr Obasanjo is both a very bad African and Nigerian. Posted by Tochukwu| 28.03.2006 09:20

gwobezentashi  Villager

# 8 Wonderful, fantastic and very much expected. Tochukwu, I think these are a poor choice of words. It is indeed a sad day for our country. We are again in the news for the wrong reasons. Btw I agree with your other sentiments but not the opening line. O'No, interesting Alamco dimension. Hope he did not go out dressed like a woman with the entourage that reportedly left Calabar on monday. Posted by gwobezentashi| 28.03.2006 09:36

sewe	# 9 he may be the market woman i saw in abriba Posted by sewe| 28.03.2006 10:30

kunle

# 10 gwobezenthasi i tend to agree with Tobi.Recall that after the Togo Eyadema presidential ascension by paliamentary manipulation there was a wide uproar and our president calmly invited the junior Eyadema to Abuja and i recall vividly that a friend told me he could bet that Obasanjo will advise him to go back and organise a charade election,this came to pass. America and the whole world has been pleading and persuading Obasanjo to release Taylor for prosecution but he refused,what has changed,the third term drum beat has increaed in Tempo and under the facade of a so called request of madam president of Liberia we sudenly hear a release is in the offing. This may sound stupid or silly but it is impossible for Charles Taylor to vanish from our soil without Obasanjo's complicity.He has met with Bush and the so called release would have been a recipee for getting promises or concessions out of the white house. Our man has crass native intelligence and the months ahead will be interesting Posted by kunle| 28.03.2006 10:35

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