NDLEA, Police, AGF crude in handling Buruji Kashamu case
(Nigeria) Public Interest Lawyers League, PILL, has frowned
at the crude, gestapo-style manner that the National Drug Law Enforcement
Agency, NDLEA, Police and the Attorney General of Federation, AGF, have
conducted themselves in arresting Senator-elect, Mr Buruji Kashamu, over an
alleged drug related offence in the United States of America.
PILL in a statement on Monday by its President, Mr Abdul
Mahmud, said “The siege laid to the home of Buruji Kashamu by operatives of the
NDLEA, and the Nigeria Police is nearing its fourth day.
“The facts leading to the siege are well too known that they
don't bear repeating here. For the record, the Public Interest Lawyers League, PILL,
frowns at the crude, gestapo-style manner that the NDLEA, Police and the AGF
have conducted themselves since the news of the siege broke last Saturday
morning.
“The dictates and the demands of the law are not too onerous
to be complied with by statutory agencies and persons charged with the
responsibility of protecting its sanctity, rather than the recourse to might,
power and the bullying tactics reminiscent of the military that Buruji Kashamu
is today experiencing at the behests of the afore-mentioned statutory
authorities.
“That Buruji Kashamu is wanted in the United States of
America for drug related charges doesn't make him any less a citizen of Nigeria
that must be hounded and stripped of the fundamental liberties guaranteed by
Sections 34, 35, 37 and 41 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria,1999.
“Buruji Kashamu, whatever the substance of the criminal
charge against him in the United States of America, is a Nigerian citizen and
his rights must be defended against the totalizing power of the United States
of America, the same way the United States of America consistently defended the
likes of Dick Cheney who were fingered in the notorious Halliburton bribe
scandal, acting through our own statutory agencies such as National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency.
“If the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, through the
AGF, has any extradition request from the United States of America, the proper
thing the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency should do is to secure a warrant
of arrest against Buruji Kashamu and institute extradition proceedings before
the High Court of Justice.
“We are at pain as to finding the legal basis for the
current siege laid by narcotics and security operatives to the home of Buruji
Kashamu, contrary to Section 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, 1999. The statement credited to the Attorney-General of the
Federation, which is to the effect that the United States of America's request
for extradition of Buruji Kashamu makes the ongoing siege to the home of Buruji
Kashamu legal, is utterly ludicrous. Extradition request does not serve as a
warrant of arrest.
“We note, based on what is already discernible from the public
media space, that the government of the United States of America attempted
twice to secure the extradition of Buruji Kashamu from the United Kingdom and
twice it failed. We ask: does the government of the United States of America
have new, fresh and compelling evidence to establish basis for its renewed
extradition request to the Nigerian government?
“If it does, why have our narcotics and security operatives
adopted the bullying, gestapo-style tactics that suggest the sinister motive of
attempts to kidnap Citizen Kashamu by any means other than legal? If there are
new, fresh and compelling facts and evidence, let the Attorney-General of the
Federation present them to the scrutiny of our laws and our court.
“For us, we join other voices to condemn the actions of our
narcotics and security operatives. Let it be known that we will join to defend
the rights of Buruji Kashamu whenever and wherever extradition proceedings are
instituted against him,” he added.
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