The Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District in the Nigerian Senate, Mr Buruji Kashamu, says the U.S. court ruling demanding his extradition to the US to face criminal charges is a case of mistaken identity.
In a statement swiftly after the ruling, Senatoir Kashamu said that “some mischievous elements” were seeking to twist a suit he filed in the United States of America to stop his abduction and forceful transportation to face trial for “a case two British courts had adjudicated upon and found that it was a case of mistaken identity”.
“I asked my lawyers in the US to file the suit when I got wind of an evil plot to abduct me in 2015 which later happened between the 23rd and 28th of May, 2015, until there was a judicial intervention which ordered the US officials and their local collaborators out of my Lagos residence.
“It should be noted that there is no any extradition proceedings against me anywhere in the world. The last one they purportedly brought after the siege to my residence was dismissed by the Federal High Court, Abuja, on the 1st of July, 2015.
“So, the wicked interpretation that the latest ruling which was based on a suit I instituted against my abduction has set the tone for my extradition is totally unfounded, vexatious and malicious,” he stated.
He explained that he had faced two extradition proceedings in the United Kingdom at the instance of the United States and the British court found that it was a case of mistaken identity after four rigorous years of trial.
He quoted the same US Court of Appeals as saying, “Several months after the indictment came down, Kashamu showed up in England and was arrested at our government’s request.
“Justice Department lawyers, working with their English counterparts, sought his extradition to the United States to stand trial.
“There were two extradition proceedings, both unsuccessful, ending finally in January, 2003 when the Presiding Judge refused to order him extradited.
“He had been detained throughout the extradition proceedings. As soon as the judge ruled, Kashamu left England for Nigeria, where he remains.”
He added that no fresh extradition proceedings can be brought against him as he had twice won the extradition proceedings against him in London where he was tried at the instance of the US government and the one they brought to Nigeria has been dismissed by the court, hence “the case is dead”.
“Any other purported extradition proceedings or abduction is illegal. I am not afraid of anything because I know my rights under the law,” he concluded.
