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| Buruji Kashamu |
Buruji had gone to court this morning asking for a declaration that NDLEA failure to produce an arrest warrant at the time of his arrest last Friday was abuse of powers and ultra vires. The court further directed NDLEA to produce their arrest warrant tomorrow.
Elombah.com has learnt that NDLEA failed to arraign the PDP chieftain in court this morning as earlier stated.
An aide to Kashamu told elombah.com: "We told Nigerians there is a plan to abduct Prince Buruji Kashamu they denied and suddenly invaded his private residence on a Saturday morning. They told Nigerians they have warrant of arrest from the court and will be taken to court on Monday morning. PB Kashamu was ready for court as early as 7.00am only for the NDLEA to now say they are just going to court to file for his warrant of arrest. PBK is at home vindicated on his allegation of abduction."
The Story So Far Before The Court Hearing
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ahmadu Giade, on Sunday explained why the agency placed Senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu under house arrest in Lagos.
Officials of the agency had on Saturday stormed the Lekki home of the Ogun East senator-elect and placed him under house arrest.
A Nigerian newspaper had reported that in order to place Kashamu under house arrest, the agency had allegedly disarmed Kashamu's personal guards manning his gates.
The agency said the arrest was preparatory to his being extradited to the United States, where he would be tried for drug trafficking-related offences.
Giade, made this disclosure in a statement issued by the agency's Head of Public Affairs, Mitchel Ofoyeju.
The NDLEA boss said Kashamu has been a target of both the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for over 20 years.
He said the house arrest was sequel to a formal request for his extradition, which the agency received from the Embassy of the United States of America, pending his arraignment before a Federal High Court
He alleged that the senator-elect was indicted in the Northern District of Illinois, US, on charges of drug trafficking brought against him by ICE.
The statement read in part: “Kashamu, who US court documents alleged was known in his days as the leader of a prolific heroin trafficking ring based in Chicago, Illinois, as ‘God’, ‘Daddy’, and ‘Kasmal’, is wanted to stand trial on charges of conspiracy and importation of controlled substances, namely heroin, into the US dating back to 1994.
“Kashamu, who holds dual Nigerian/Beninese citizenship, has taken multiple preemptive actions to thwart US extradition efforts such as claiming that his was a case of mistaken identity, and that his deceased brother was responsible for the crimes he is being sought after in the US.
“Kashamu has filed injunctions in federal court both in the Northern District of Illinois and in Nigeria to prevent his arrest and prosecution.”
The statement went on to state that as at the time of his arrest, the agency allowed Kashamu’s legal attorneys – Daniel Onamusi and Mr Oloyede – and close family members including his wife and adult daughters to speak with him and attest to his well-being.
The statement added: “The NDLEA has assured Kashamu that he will be afforded all the protections of the law and will be given his day in court.
“Assertions that he will be bundled under the cover of darkness and whisked out of the country are untrue and should not be given any credence.
“We expect Kashamu as a senator-elect to demonstrate confidence in the Nigerian judicial system and not insinuate otherwise.”
The Federal High Court, Lagos, will today consider whether Kashamu should be extradited to the US or not.
According to the group, there is need for Kashamu to step down from his position now as the party leader, while he clears his name from the allegations of drug-related offences.
Egbe Odo stated that the party could no longer afford to have a suspected drug baron as its leader especially in its rebuilding process.
“We believe strongly that only the immediate resignation of Kashamu and his Secretary in the South-west leadership of the PDP can restore the confidence of our party members.
“This is because the defeat we suffered in the 2015 general election also has its cause from Kashamu’s drug-related offences, as we cannot continue to bring disrepute to the party because of his alleged involvement in drug offences,” the group stated.
Beside his own party, the rival All Progressives Congress (APC), understandably has also supported the extradition moves against Kashamu.
The party in Ogun State yesterday hailed NDLEA’s efforts to extradite Kashamu to the US.
In a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Sola Lawal, the party said the NDLEA has lived up to the integrity and impartiality which it is expected to uphold.
The party, while distancing the people of the state from the person and character of the accused, said: “People should not mistake the person of Buruji Kashamu, who won election in the state as what our people stand for.
“The emergence of Kashamu in Ogun politics therefore, is only a pointer to the decadence that ate up the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which produced him. No doubt, in a more civilised and politically correct socio-political environment, other than the directionless and morbidly corrupt Goodluck Jonathan system, such an individual would not have become a candidate of a right thinking party, how much more winning an election,” it said.
APC accused the PDP-led federal government of shielding Kashamu from facing the wrath of the law for a long time, assuring however that a Mohammadu Buhari presidency would without bias engage all relevant institutions not only on checking against acts that break the law but also protecting the rights of all Nigerians.
Kashamu had sued the federal government and 13 others, asking the court to particularly restrain the NDLEA, EFCC and others from yielding to the US government’s request by handing him over to the American authorities for the purpose of trying him outside the country on the alleged drug offences.
In the suit, he accused the Inspector-General of Police and 11 others of plotting to abduct and forcibly transport him to the US to face trial on alleged drug-related offences.
He claimed that the defendants were doing the bidding of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to arrest him during his swearing in as a senator and transport him to the US in a private plane to face trial before Judge Norgle.
He prayed the court to declare the alleged abduction and extradition plot as an infringement on his fundamental human rights to liberty, freedom of association and freedom of movement as provided under Sections 35, 40 and 41 of the constitution.
Although the court has fixed May 27 to decide on Kashamu’s fundamental rights enforcement suit, the NDLEA will this morning commence extradition procedures against him strictly in accordance with the nation’s laws, as he will be physically brought to court.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA has called on Kashamu to concentrate on the facts of his case rather than dragging Obasanjo and former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Olabode George into his personal problems.
According to another statement by Ofoyeju, the fact was that a formal request for his extradition had been received from the Embassy of the United States of America.
He said: “These are issues that Kashamu should prepare to address rather than point accusing fingers at eminent elder statesmen who have no connection with the ongoing investigative process.”
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