The premises of the Lagos Division of the Federal High on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi, was on Monday flooded with loyalists to the Senator-elect for Ogun East Senatorial District, Mr. Buruji Kashamu, in anticipation of his appearance in court.
The loyalists carried placards with several inscriptions such as: ‘We want Kashamu here in Nigeria;’ ‘Don’t steal our joy from us;’ ‘Don’t take Kashamu away from his people;’ ‘Kashamu is not a drug baron;’ ‘US, mind your business;’ ‘We want due process of law;’ ‘Obj leave Kashamu alone,’ and so on.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency had, in a statement on Sunday, announced its plan to bring Kashamu to court for extradition proceedings.
The agency, whose operatives had laid siege to Kashamu’s residence in Lagos since Saturday, said it had received a formal extradition request on Kashamu from the government of the United States of America and was coming to court to secure an extradition order.
It claimed that Kashamu had been on the wanted list of both the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security.
But a former state secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State, Yemi Akinwonmi, who spoke on behalf of the peaceful protesters in court, described the move to extradite Kashamu as “a reckless display of power.”
Akinwonmi, who challenged the NDLEA to present the extradition request it claimed to have received from the US, insisted that the extradition plot against Kashamu was purely political, adding that NDLEA had not secured any warrant to arrest Kashamu.
“Where is the extradition request? These people forget that the whole world is watching us.
“Where is it done all over the world, that you are going to arrest a man, a highly placed person, a senator-elect, without a warrant of arrest? And you forced yourself into his house, into his private life and held him captive for the past 72 hours without any paper from the court of law.
“So, it is illegal, an abuse of abuse of power; a reckless power display,” Akinwonmi said.
However, till late afternoon, the NDLEA did not bring Kashamu to court as announced.
Instead, the agency released a fresh statement on Monday by its Head of Public Affairs, Ofoyeju Mitchell, saying Kashamu had failed to turn himself over to its operatives, which was why he was not in court.
Mitchell said, “Senator-elect Buruji Kashamu has failed to appear in court from his house where he is being closely monitored by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
“The Agency is working hard to ensure that he submits himself to the due process of the law. His house remained cordoned by anti-narcotic officers pending his appearance in court.”
But Kashamu’s lawyer, Mr. Ajibola Oluyede, said the anti-narcotic agency had no arrest warrant on his client.
Oluyede, who appeared in court late afternoon, met on ground his colleague, Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN), who had been around since morning.
Izinyon, when asked for the position of his client on the case, said he was in court, awaiting the move by NDLEA.
Oluyede however insisted that NDLEA had yet to file any application.
As of 3.51pm, Oluyede was still in court with a new application seeking to be heard.
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