The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Tuesday, June 2, 2015 announced that it had formally served Ogun-East Senator-elect Buruji Kashamu an extradition notice, Leadership reports.
Kashamu and the agency were recently involved it a widely publicized battle after NDLEA officials stormed his Lekki, Lagos residence seeking to extradite him to the USA over an alleged drug offence.
According to the NDLEA, the notice with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/479/2015 was served on Monday, June 1, 2015 with a copy sent to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
Reacting to the development, Kashamu’s lawyer, Ajibola Oluyede, said he has not been served any notice, ennthusing that “rather, a copy of the process was dropped in our office in Lagos yesterday. So, we shall deal with it in accordance with the law.”
He further availed that “the NDLEA should be warned to stay away because they have no role to play in the current proceedings. And if we should discover that they have usurped the functions of the AGF, we shall certainly make an issue of it.
“We wish to state that the NDLEA has no role to play in extradition proceedings until a warrant of arrest has been issued by the court. It is the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice that initiates extradition proceedings after receiving a request by an order directed to the court and asking the court to take over the matter.
“It is the court that will decide whether a warrant of arrest is necessary.
It is the court that will consider all the evidence provided by the United States to see whether it satisfies the onus of proof and that it establishes that the person sought is the person that actually participated in the offence alleged.”
