AGF Backs NDLEA Over Attempt To Arrest Kashamu

The travails of Senator-elect, Kasumu Buruji, may be far from over. The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Bello Adoke, has declared the attempt to arrest him for possible extradition to the United States of America, as legal.

Security operatives from the anti drug agency, Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), laid siege at his Abeokuta home in the early hours of yesterday, apparently to get him arrested.

According to Adoke, a formal request had been made by the American Government to effect his extradition, adding that the request had since been passed to the appropriate legal body. He promised that due process and all legal proceedings would be applied in his extradition bid .

The Senator-elect, in a statement signed by his media aide, Austin Oniyokor, described as illegal the decision by the men of the National Drug Law enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to surround his house in the early hours of yesterday.

Oniyokor also accused Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Bode George, whose wife is the Director-General of the agency, of being behind the action.

“This latest onslaught is a confirmation of the alleged plot to illegally abduct him in spite of the pending suit against this illegality.

“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, May 27, 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, Oniyokor said.

Kashamu, who won senatorial election on the ticket of the PDP on March 28, accused the anti-drug agents of invading his residence without first obtaining an arrest warrant. .

The U.S authorities had earlier in the year named Kashamu as a major drug supplier in a high-profile drug case that has spun off the hit TV series “Orange is the New Black.” But Kashamu has consistently proclaimed his innocence, claiming that the alleged drug kingpin is his brother. He has noted that a British court had cleared him of the charges, and had released him after a trial in the UK.