Kashamu Under House Arrest as US Formally Seeks His Extradition …
Ogun State Senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu has been confined to his Lekki Phase 1, Lagos residence pending his appearance in court on Monday May 25, 2015 to perfect his extradition to the United States, a statement by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced yesterday.
Confirming the statement signed by its spokesman, Mitchell Ofoyeju, the Chief Executive of the agency, Ahmadu Giade said the operation is in line with the legal process of extradition.
“The Agency has commenced extradition procedures against Senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu in line with the laws of country. He has been in contact with his attorneys and will appear in court on Monday,” Giade stated.
NDLEA said its narcotic operatives raided the residence of Buruji about 5 am yesterday, thus putting to an end the standoff between the Ogun State Senator-elect and those who would want to see him extradited to the United States of America to answer charges for drug-related offences.
A statement by Kashamu’s media assistant, yesterday morning said that the NDLEA operatives had at about 4:30am surrounded the Lekki Phase 1, Lagos residence of Prince Buruji Kashamu to arrest him, following a purported extradition request from the US.
This development is buoyed by an official request by the United States Government, which was communicated to the Nigerian government through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke.
The letter, which was allegedly delivered by hand by men of the Homeland Security in the US and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, THISDAY learnt, came into the country a few days ago and was merely waiting for Adoke to act on it before further actions are deployed therein.
When THISDAY contacted the office of the Attorney-General for the development, sources confirmed that indeed the letter was received and would be worked on for further actions before yesterday morning’s development, which saw men of the NDLEA surrounding Kashamu’s residence.
Ironically, the talk about Kashamu’s proposed extradition has never been based on formal request as the US, for the first time, a few days ago formally requested for it through official communication means between the two countries.
To also show the seriousness of the US government on the Buruji matter, not only was the letter requesting his extradition delivered by hand, the US officials who brought it in are also said to be waiting to take Kashamu back with them to the US and have since remained in the country.
However, the statement by Kashamu’s media aide alleged that “this latest onslaught is a confirmation of the alleged plot to illegally abduct him in spite of the pending suit against this illegality.”
He added: “As a matter of fact, the court has ordered parties in the matter including the NDLEA to maintain status quo until judgment is delivered on Wednesday 27th May 2015.
“We have confirmed that they do not have a warrant of arrest, just as the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice has said that it did not give any order to carry out this illegality.
“We have confirmed that this illegality is being designed and executed by Chief Bode George whose wife is the Director General of the NDLEA, all in a bid to score cheap political points.
“We urge all well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on NDLEA, Chief George and his wife to toe the path of the rule of law and follow due process. Nigeria is not a Banana republic!
“The United States (US) being the bastion of democracy, the rule of law and due process should not lend itself to this kind of illegality.”
But efforts to speak with Chief Olabode George proved abortive as his telephone number was not responding.
Meanwhile, the planned extradition of Kashamu to the US in connection with alleged importation of prohibited narcotics between 1993 and 1995 has been a recurring decimal with many court cases both internally and in other jurisdictions.
The matter became an issue for Kashamu, when he manoeuvred his way to become a prominent figure in the PDP and soon high-jacked the party structure from those he met there, starting with Ogun State, from where he moved to the South West geo-political zone.
Buruji however started the judicial battle to save himself from extradition when he filed a fundamental human rights enforcement suit before a Federal High Court in Lagos. He filed the suit before Justice Okechukwu Okeke (now retired), when he got wind of plans by the Federal Government to transport him to the United States to face trial for the said drug offence.
Justice Okeke had specifically granted a perpetual injunction restraining the Attorney–General of the Federation (AGF) from making any order under Section 6(2) of the Extradition Act for the arrest, committal or surrender of Kashamu at the instance of the United States Government.
The extradition move was reportedly informed by Kashamu’s indictment before a US District court for an alleged drug-related offence. But Okeke’s judgement was set aside by a three-man panel of the Appeal Court in Lagos.
The appellate court further vacated an order of perpetual injunction restraining the AGF from entertaining or making any order whatsoever in respect of any request by the US government for the surrender of the applicant in respect of the alleged drug related offences.
The unanimous decision of Appeal Court setting aside the said orders was delivered by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa and was supported by Justices Joseph Ikyegh and Chinwe Iyizoba, respectively. The decision was sequel to an appeal filed by the federal government challenging the decision of Justice Okeke.
In the appeal, which was argued on behalf of the Federal Government by Emeka Ngige (SAN), the government had complained that Justice Okeke erred in law by relying on hearsay and speculative evidence in granting Kashamu several reliefs including an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Nigerian government from entertaining any request from the US government on issue of drug-related offence in the US.
The appeal court also faulted the trial judge for allowing the case to be tried by way of originating summons despite the fact that the affidavit evidence in support of the case was highly contentious and hostile in nature.
But after the judgement, Kashamu filed another application before the Appeal Court and urged the leadership of the court to set up another panel to hear the extradition appeal.
Kashamu had predicated his application on the grounds that the judgement of the Justice Salauwa-led panel was made without jurisdiction because he had earlier sponsored a petition against members of the panel in another matter.
Responding, Ngige urged the court to dismiss the application, describing it as mischievous and abuse of court process.
Eventually, the application was granted by the Appeal Court leadership, while a new panel comprising of Justices Isa Akeju (presiding), Adu Aboki and Ibrahim Shata, was inaugurated.
While that was going on, the extradition process suffered set back, and many other things happened until another Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, sitting in Illinois, United States threw out Kashamu’s application to stop the request for his extradition, thus declaring him a fugitive wanted in America for trial for alleged drug-related offences.
Presiding judge of the court, Justice Charles R. Norgle, refused to quash an indictment issued against Kashamu as the court held that the indictment against him had no expiration date.
“Should he ever come to the United States, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, he could be put on trial in the Federal District Court in Chicago, since the indictment has no expiration date. An original indictment remains pending until it is dismissed or until double jeopardy or due process would forbid prosecution under it,” the court held.
A few months after the ruling, Kashamu, on May 4, 2015 filed another suit before a Federal High Court in Lagos where he accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of working in concert with others to mastermind his arrest during his swearing-in as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.