Political Briefs
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A FEDERAL high court in Lagos, on Wednesday, May 27, restrained the inspector general of Police, IG, attorney general of the federation, AGF, and other government agencies from arresting Buruji Kashamu, senator-elect for Ogun East Senatorial District, for onward extradition to the United States over alleged drug-related offences.
Justice Okon Abang, in his judgement, held that held that the agencies must comply with the letters of the extradition act if they must arrest or extradite Kashamu. The senator-elect, in a fundamental human rights enforcement, challenged plans to extradite him to the US to face charges.
The court further restrained the IG from withdrawing the security details currently attached to the applicant. The court also directed the Clerk of the National Assembly to accord the applicant all he deserved as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The judge, who claimed that he could not perpetually restrain the respondents from arresting Kashamu, said: “but are restrained from unlawful arrest of the applicant without compliance to the provision of the Extradition Act.”
Other respondents mentioned in the suit are chairman, Nigeria Drugs and Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA; chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC; director -general, Department of State Security, DSS, and the Interpol, National Central Bureau, NCB.
Others are the clerk of the National Assembly, the national security adviser to the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, Nigeria Custom Services; the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
Also on Wednesday, the NDLEA said it would renege on its earlier stance to disobey a court by ordering its officials to vacate Kashamu’s residence.
The embattled senator-elect had prayed the court to restrain the defendants and their agents from arresting, detaining or otherwise effecting his abduction upon spurious allegation.
The NDLEA argued that sometimes in 2003, the applicant was discharged of drug offences by a United Kingdom court over mistaken identity, urged the court to strike out the suit on the ground that it didn’t disclose a reasonable cause of action against it.
— Jun 8, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT
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Tags: AGF and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps attorney general of the federation Buruji Kashamu Clerk Department of State Security DSS Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC Extradition Act Federal High Court Federal Republic of Nigeria ICPC IG Independent Corrupt Practices Commission INTERPOL National Assembly National Central Bureau NCB NDLEA Nigeria Custom Services Nigeria Drugs and Law Enforcement Agency NIS Ogun East Senatorial District Okon Abang police the Nigeria Immigration Service United Kingdom United States
