Gale of extradictions trail Nigerian's rich men

Emeka Ibemere

Of recent, Nigerian image of Nigerian judiciary has again been brought to repute with gale of extradition letters flying in the country and the handling of such cases by the Nigerian courts, in their bid to obey the extradition orders before the courts.

 Some security agencies, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, are making frantic efforts to honour such letters from Britain and America but their efforts are hitting the walls of the court via legal jargons and logics.

Some extraction cases poorly handled by Nigerian courts were dispatched with immediate effect in other climes. Nigeria is a signatory to an extradition laws with several countries in Europe and America, including their allies. United States extradition treaties with Nigeria took place on December 22, 1931 and entered into force on June 24, 1935    with its Citation number 47 Stat. 2122.

 Extradition is generally the transfer of an accused from one state or country to another state or country that seeks to place the accused on trial. It could be defined as the legal surrender of a fugitive to the jurisdiction of another state, country, or government for trial or the official process by which one nation or state requests and obtains from another nation or state the surrender of a suspected or convicted criminal. Where extradition is required between sub-national regions/states, it is usually known as rendition.

Legal experts explained that extradition between nations is regulated by extradition laws or diplomatic treaties between the country where the accused is currently located and the country seeking to place him or her on trial for an alleged crime.

According to a lecturer in a legal department of Abia State University, Uturu who declined his identity, extraditable persons include those charged with a crime but not yet tried, those tried and convicted who have escaped custody, and those convicted in absentia. “Extradition laws specify the crimes that are extraditable, clarify extradition procedures and safeguards, and stipulate the relationship between the law and international treaties. National laws differ greatly regarding the relationship between extradition laws and treaties”.

It was gathered that international extradition is more difficult and complex to handle. While most countries will extradite persons charged with serious crimes, some will not and others refuse to extradite for certain crimes.

 Also, reports claimed that not all countries have extradition treaties with all other countries. The United States for example has entered into extradition treaties with most countries in Europe and Latin America, and with a few countries in Africa and Asia.

“Extradition treaties are necessary because once a person leaves the borders of a country, the laws of that country cease to apply to them and the laws of the next country whose borders they are within now apply to them, but, they also retain the diplomatic rights of a foreign citizen equal to the rights of a non accused visitor to that foreign country.  Non extradition occurs when the accused person in a country travels to another country which does not have an existing extradition treaty with the country he is coming from”, US Criminal reports stated.

Nigeria will extradite persons charged with certain political offences, such as treason, sedition and espionage, genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Also, corruption charges, drug trafficking charges are extraditable.  

At the international level, there are a multitude of extradition agreements such as the European Convention on Extradition of the Council of Europe 1957, an international organisation that is separate from the European Union (EU). This EU Convention supplements the Council of Europe Convention and simplifies the extradition procedure between Member States without affecting the application of the most favourable provisions of bilateral or multilateral agreements.

The Convention obliges Member States to surrender persons sought for the purpose of extradition under simplified procedures provided for by the Convention on two conditions namely that the person in question consents to be extradited and that the requested State gives its agreement. In particular, it no longer requires the surrender of the person who is the subject of a request for arrest to be subject to submission of a request for extradition and the other documents required by Article 12 of the European Convention on Extradition.

Before, the extradition, the following information from the requesting State is regarded as adequate: the identity of the person sought; the authority requesting the arrest; the existence of an arrest warrant or other document having the same legal effect or of an enforceable judgment; the nature and legal description of the offence; a description of the circumstances in which the offence was committed and the consequences of the offence in so far as this is possible. This is the situation Nigerian government is going on with some of its citizens being requested by Britain and America for extradition.

Many Nigerians are battling the fight of their life to avoid the extradition experience. The embattled Ogun Senator-Elect, Buruji Kashamu, is in row with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, which is also battling to extradite him. But he went into hiding declaring that the agency has no role to play in his extradition proceedings against him, until a warrant of arrest has been issued by the court.

The agency had on May 23 placed Mr. Kashamu on house arrest, with the aim of extraditing him to United States over alleged drug offences. A court declared the house arrest illegal. But the development took another dimension when Mr. Kashamu denied that he had been served extradition notice by the NDLEA. Even as the NDLEA said it served him the proceedings. In a reaction through his counsel, Ajibola Oluyede, the lawmaker-elect denied receiving the notice, and said the agency has no right to issue such.

“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,” the statement said. “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. In this case, the NDLEA is very jumpy, nervous and unsettled because it has exposed its unprofessionalism when before any extradition proceedings had been commenced at all,” he said.

Mr. Kashamu also accused the immediate past Attorney General of Federation, Mohammed Adoke, and Chairman of NDLEA of working for his political opponents who would do anything to deprive him of his senatorial mandate.

“There are many things wrong with the documents filed by the immediate past AGF. But all these will be dealt with in the court in due course.  The triumphant announcement by the NDLEA that they have served Prince Kashamu with extradition proceedings is not only laughable but false. He has not been served. 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.”

“In the meantime, 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,” Mr. Kashamu warned.

As that wasn’t enough, the extradition process initiated against Franca Asemota, by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation before Justice A. Kafarati of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja came up for mention on Wednesday, May 27, 2015.

 Asemota is wanted by the UK government for trafficking of minors to Europe using London Heathrow airport as a transit hub. The suspect was arrested by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, March 24, 2015 in Benin, Edo State on suspicion of money laundering offences.

On arrest, checks on Asemota’s profile revealed that, she had been on the wanted list of the National Crime Agency, NCA. When the case was called, Asemota’s counsel, Ugochukwu Ezekiel told the court that he had a pending application for bail of the respondent. He urged the court to admit his client to bail. Responding, Muslim Hassan from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation told the court that the application cannot be heard because the case was just for mention. He urged the court to fix a date for hearing of all pending applications. Consequently, Justice Kafarat adjourned the case to June 3, 2015 for hearing of the bail application and ordered the accused to be remanded in EFCC custody.

Despite the court frustration in the extradition of some prominent Nigerians, alleged to have extradition tag on them, especially Buruji Kashamu, the House of Representatives commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for their bold step taken in the extradition case involving senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu who is wanted in the United States of America on charges bordering on drug trafficking.

The letter of commendation which was signed by the Chairman, House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes Honourable Jagaba Adams Jagaba stated that the Agency’s action would go a long way in building the confidence of the international community in Nigeria. Meanwhile, a notice of application for extradition of Buruji Kashamu to the United States had also been served on the senator-elect.

In an application made to the Chief Judge, Federal High Court, Abuja in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/479/2015, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation is seeking the extradition of Buruji Kashamu to answer alleged drug trafficking charges. This is in line with the Extradition Act CAP, E25 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (as modified by Extradition Act Modification Order, 2014). The notice of the suit was officially served on Kashamu by the NDLEA on 1st of June 2015.

Honourable Jagaba while commending the gallantry of officers and men of the anti-narcotic agency observed that the action of the NDLEA has sent a strong signal that Nigeria believes in the rule of law.

“This action has sounded a warning that no longer shall any Nigerian be considered to be above the law, no matter how highly placed. It equally points to the fact that no matter how long it takes, the law would catch up with all that has a case to answer. The Agency has shown that it can work without discrimination” he stated.

The letter further enjoined the Agency not to succumb to blackmail. “Let me at this juncture, therefore, encourage you not to falter in the face of blackmail. Your distracters will engage in all forms of antics including blackmail to distract you but you must never be deterred. Instead, with every form of distraction, you should be spurred to maintain the dignity of the Agency and do the needful in the interest of Nigerians and humanity” Jagaba stated.

In 2007, the Metropolitan Police raided the London offices of lawyer Bhadresh Gohil. Hidden in a wall behind a fireplace, they found computer hard drives containing details of a myriad of off-shore companies, run for Ibori by Gohil, fiduciary agent Daniel Benedict McCann, and corporate financier Lambertus De Boer. All of these men were later jailed for a total of 30 years.

As a result of these corruption allegations, the United Kingdom courts froze Ibori's assets there, valued at about £17 million ($35 million), in early August 2007. His wife, Nkoyo, was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London on 1 November 2007, in connection with the probe of the assets of her husband, particularly in the United Kingdom. She was released after being questioned. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Ibori denied allegations against him claiming they were politically motivated. He accused Nuhu Ribadu and the UK Courts of playing politics.

It will be recalled that on December 12, 2007, Ibori was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the Kwara State Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja. The charges he faces include theft of public funds, abuse of office, and money laundering. These corruption charges brought against Ibori by the government of former President Obasanjo are among many begun by anticorruption czar Nuhu Ribadu against former officials of the ruling People’s Democratic Party PDP.

 Ribadu additionally alleged that Ibori attempted to bribe him to drop the charges with a cash gift of $15 million, which Ribadu immediately lodged in the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN. The cash remains in the CBN as an exhibit. On December 17, 2009, A Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State discharged and acquitted Ibori of all 170 charges of corruption brought against him by EFCC. The EFCC filed a notice of appeal against the December 17, 2009 judgement, and has begun a new round of investigations on the former governor following a petition by members of the Delta State Elders, Leaders and Stakeholders Forum, which was made available to the public in March 2010. But in April 2010, about three months after the takeover of government by Goodluck Jonathan, Ibori's case file was reopened. A new allegation that he embezzled N40 billion ($266 million) was pressed against him. Attempts to arrest him were unsuccessful. It was reported that he fled from Abuja to Lagos and then to the creeks of Oghara, his homeland in the Niger Delta. It was reported that he has been guarded by armed militias and they once had a shootout with government security forces. He claimed that the charges were frivolous and that he was a victim of political persecution.

In April 2010, Ibori fled Nigeria, prompting the EFCC to request the assistance of Interpol and on 12 July 2010 the Governor of the CBN, Malam Sanusi Lamido revealed that Ibori had used Delta State as collateral for N40 billion loans when he was governor. However, on 13 May 2010, Ibori arrested in Dubai, United Arab Emirates under Interpol arrest warrants, issued from United Kingdom courts and enacted by the Metropolitan Police. Ibori was granted bail pending an extradition hearing.  A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police confirmed that the United Kingdom would "seek Mr Ibori's extradition".

The Nigerian government and the United Kingdom then agreed to work together on Ibori's extradition to the United Kingdom, even as his movement became restricted by the Dubai authority. It was however reported on 27 May 2010, that Ibori was seeking political asylum in Dubai.

Ibori's case and extradition became one of the longest, most complex and expensive operations mounted by Scotland Yard in recent years. Prosecutors alleged that companies owned by Ibori and his family were beneficiaries from the sale of state assets, including shares in a mobile telephone operator, as well as crude oil deliveries. The EFCC confirmed on Thursday 10th 2010, that Ibori was in custody awaiting extradition to the UK, which he was extradited.

Ibori case is not the only case the court in Nigeria tried to frustrate, Emmanuel Okoyomon, a former managing director of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company [NSPM], also battling to quash his extraction case. But after hide and seek, Justice E. S Chukwu of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, ordered the extradition of Emmanuel Okoyomon to the United Kingdom to face charges of corruption and money laundering. Mr. Okoyomon’s extradition was sought by the UK government over his alleged role in the bribery allegation involving officials of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, NSPM and Securency International Pty of Australia between 2006 and 2008.

Arguing the matter, Alex Izinyon, SAN, counsel to the accused, had challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain and determine the matter saying that there is no extradition treaty between Nigeria and the United Kingdom. According to him, Nigeria is not a party to the 1931 Extradition Treaty between Nigeria and United States of America.

Mr. Izinyon further argued that, the London Scheme for extradition within the Commonwealth, 2002, does not apply in Nigeria. He urged the court to dismiss the extradition application. However, M. S Hassan, who represented the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, countered Mr. Izinyon’s submission.

He explained that the 1931 treaty became applicable to Nigeria in 1935 and was never repealed by any enactment, stressing that schedule 2 under Extradition law provides that, “the law shall apply to all Commonwealth Nations”

Ruling on the matter today, Justice Chukwu ordered that the accused, Mr. Okoyomon, be extradited within 30 days from the date of the ruling to face trial in the United Kingdom while being remanded in prison custody pending his extradition.

Following the October 1, 2009 launch of the polymer bank notes in Nigeria, which saw the N5, N10, and N50 notes remade in polymer material as against the original paper version, a scandal broke that CBN and NSPM officials received bribes to affect the switch to polymer. In its own investigation, Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the EFCC interrogated several officials of the CBN and NSPM.

But while no official of the Central Bank has so far been indicted, the commission has been in court with Mr. Okoyomon, over the request to extradite him to the United Kingdom to face prosecution over some findings related to the allegations. The U.K. had sought the extradition of Mr. Okoyomon over his alleged role in the bribery scheme allegedly executed between 2006 and 2008.

Recently, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria heard an application in which eight Nigerians nabbed for a “sweetheart” cyber scam seek to stop the South African government from extraditing them to stand trial in the US.

The matter was on the roll on but Judge Elizabeth Kabushi postponed the matter for the preparations of heads of argument by the state and the applicants.

Last week Thursday‚ reports said Judge Kabushi granted an interim order stopping the extradition of the eight. The judge also ordered “the state to immediately take necessary steps to have” Seson Olimede Farin and Femi Alexandra Mewase, who had already been extradited returned to South Africa pending the finalisation of the matter.

According to the foreign reports, the Nigerians‚ along with a South African woman‚ were nabbed by the Hawks in April last year in raids conducted in Sunnyside‚ Pretoria. Several other alleged syndicate members were also arrested in the same operation in Canada and the US. It was reported that the two-year investigation began after agents from US Homeland Security Investigations were tipped off by a Mississippi woman about a suspicious parcel she had received from Pretoria. The Mississippi woman had nearly fallen victim to the "sweetheart" scam.

It was gathered that the woman approached the US authorities after she had been told to ship the contents of the parcel back to the address in Pretoria. The investigation revealed that the merchandise was packaged using stolen personal identity information and fraudulent credit card information from a US citizen. Hundreds of US citizens are believed to have fallen victim to the scam. According to the Hawks‚ the syndicate has operated for years‚ purchasing shipping labels from the US Postal Service and courier companies using fraudulent credit card information and stolen identities. Once the stolen merchandise reached South Africa‚ the suspects advertised it for sale on the internet. The accused's lawyer‚ Thesigan Pillay‚ argued in court papers that the magistrate who granted the extradition acted unconstitutionally and unlawfully.

Reports say that he also contended that there has been a diplomatic failure in terms of co-operation between SA and Nigeria and the only South African accused was given preferential treatment.