The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss contempt proceedings initiated against them by Senator Buruji Kashamu, who they are seeking to extradite to the United States to face drug dealing charges.
Through his lawyer, AJibola Oluyede, Kashamu had filed a Motion on Notice for committal of the AGF and NDLEA Chairman Ahmed Giade to prison.
The applicant prayed the court to hold that the respondents are in criminal contempt by their alleged willful violation of a court judgment dated January 6.
He prayed the court to declare that the invasion of his home by NDLEA officials at the instance of the AGF, as well as the extradition proceedings which they commenced, constitute criminal contempt.
But counsel to the AGF, Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN), told Justice Ibrahim Buba yesterday that Kashamu’s application was an abuse of court process because similar prayers had earlier been moved and decided by another judge of the court, Justice Okon Abang on June 8.
“In his ruling, Abang granted the same reliefs being sought in the instant application. The same committal proceedings was filed before Abang – word for word – and he has dealt with it finally,” Ngige said, adding that Oluyede hid that fact before Justice Buba.
NDLEA’s lawyer Mr Joseph Sunday said there was nothing illegal about the agency’s actions to warrant being held in contempt. “There is nothing illegal about the actions of the second respondent,” he said.
He had earlier argued that Justice Abang never made any order restraining the agency from extraditing Kashamu.
“Your lordship was misled into thinking there are orders against extradition. What they asked before Abang is order against abduction, kidnap,” he said.
Besides, he said Justice Abang’s judgment of last year was on a suit by a group, the Concerned Citizens of Ogun State, adding that it had nothing to do with extradition.
“So, the applicant (Kashamu) misled this court by lifting some of the orders made in that case, which were restricted to that particular petition. Justice Abang never made any order restraining the extradition process.
“Kashamu does not want to submit to the enquiry on whether or not he should be extradited. The United States has made a request for his extradition. Should NDLEA fold its arms? How will that portray us to the international community? This application is a desperate attempt to put the security agencies in bad light,” he said.
However, Oluyede contended that it was not true that there was an extradition request for Kashamu from the United States. “That claim is false and that is to put it mildly,” he said.
He said if there was any such request, it would be addressed to the AGF, who would then apply to a court for extradition proceedings.
“There is nothing like that addressed to the AGF,” he said, adding that NDLEA would have had no business with any such extradition request if indeed it was made, as only the AGF would be the prosecutor.
But Sunday argued that based on Section 8 of the Extradition Act, any other person beside the AGF can make an application for a provisional warrant of arrest where there is an extradition request.
“We urge your Lordship to dismiss this application for being an abuse court process,” he said.
Earlier, Justice Buba dismissed Ngige’s application for stay of proceedings. The senior advocate had prayed the court to suspend further hearing of the case until his appeal against a ruling by Justice Buba barring Kashamu’s extradition is determined.
The judge held that he would not be “bamboozled” into granting the application when the appeal had not been “entered”, adding that the contempt proceedings was sui generis (of its own kind; unique) and therefore he was duty-bound to determine it without being distracted.
Justice Buba also refused to set aside his order, and dismissed Ngige’s application for an adjournment to enable him file a further affidavit to prove that the contempt proceedings was wrongly initiated.
Oluyede, in the application, said the court on January 6, last year in suit FHC/L/ CS / 49/2010, restrained security agencies from arresting Kashamu in respect of allegations contained in a petition dated December 18, 2009.
Oluyede claimed that the alleged contemnors willfully and deliberately violated the judgment and court order under the pretense of responding to a request for Kashamu’s extradition made by the US government regarding allegations of the applicant’s complicity in narcotic offences committed in the US in 1994, a matter which Kashamu said had been decided by a British Court in 2003.
He accused Giade of plotting to preempt the judicial process by deploying about 50 fully armed NDLEA officials, pursuant to the verbal instruction of the AGF, to invade Kashamu’s home around 4am on May 23.
Justice Buba adjourned ruling till today.
