Federal High Court Orders The Release Of Kashamu & Armed Agents From His Residence

A Federal high court on Monday ordered NDLEA agents to release the newly elected senator, Buruji Kashamu and suspend its extradition proceedings on 20-year old drug charges. It also ordered the withdrawal of armed agents who have besieged his home since Saturday. Judge I.N. Buba ordered the federal attorney general and the chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to appear in court before noon Tuesday to show why he should not charge them with contempt of court.

He said all parties should desist from any action until a court ruling scheduled Wednesday on a previous suit by Kashamu to prevent his extradition. Kashamu's spokesman had told the AP that the drug agents did not have an arrest warrant. But the agency insists it does have one, according to an email from spokesman Ofoyeju Mitchell.

"The extradition move by the NDLEA for Kashamu to answer drug trafficking charges is legal. The Agency has not violated his rights and will continue to work within the confines of the law." he said in a statement. 

Kashamu's spokesman, Austin Oniyokor, said Kashamu is the victim of a political conspiracy.

A Chicago grand jury in 1998 indicted Kashamu for conspiracy to import and distribute heroin in the U.S. Prosecutors charge he was the kingpin of a heroin trafficking ring there in the 1990s. Kashamu has said the prosecutors really wanted his dead brother, whom he closely resembled.

A previous request to extradite him from Britain failed in 2003. Kashamu spent 5 years in a British jail before he was freed over uncertainty about his identity. He was carrying $230,000 when he was arrested there.

Source: The Associated Press