The scheduled hearing of a suit filed by the Senator representing Ogun East in the National Assembly, Buruji Kashamu, has failed to continue at the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
Senator Kashamu is seeking to restrain security agencies from extraditing him to the United States to answer alleged drug charges.
But proceedings could not go on because the lawyers to the senator have not properly served the court processes on other parties.
In the suit, the lawmaker is seeking to restrain the other parties, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Department of State Security (DSS), National Drug Laws Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), from arresting or detaining him in any matter whatsoever or interfering with his personal liberty and freedom of movement.
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At the resumed hearing of the matter on Tuesday, while some of the parties said they were ready to proceed with the hearing of the suit, the DSS through its counsel informed the court that Kashamu’s lawyers have not complied with the court’s directive to serve the hearing notice on all parties.
It also informed the court that the AGF who was vital to the suit was not represented.
After looking through the court’s file, it was discovered that the hearing notice which was meant for AGF was improperly served on the DSS.
Kashamu’s lawyer, Mobolaji Akintunde, described the situation as ‘unfortunate’ and asked the court to grant an adjournment, to allow for proper service on the AGF.
The trial judge, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, thereafter, ordered that the hearing notice be issued and served on AGF.
He also adjourned the matter till March 8 for the hearing of Kashamu’s motion on notice and the NDLEA’s preliminary objection.
In the preliminary objection, the NDLEA urged Justice Aneke to dismiss Kashamu’s suit for being incompetent, and for being an abuse of court processes.
The agency also said the suit failed to disclose any infringement of Kashamu’s rights.
The NDLEA, in an affidavit in support of the preliminary objection deposed to by one of its litigation officers, Kareem Olayinka, stated that the law enforcement authorities in the USA were seeking to have the lawmaker extradited to their country to answer charges relating to alleged trafficking of heroin.
It revealed that the US government made the request sometimes in May 2015.
