Tobi Soniyi in Abuja
A Federal High Court in Abuja has formally turned down the request of Senator Buruji Kashamu for an order to prohibit the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS) from arresting and extraditing him to the United States to answer charges on drug related offences.
Justice Okon Abang refused to grant the request on the grounds that the serving senator, representing Ogun East in the Senate was over-reaching the court and did not need the order.
The judge who ruled on the submissions of police and one Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, a House of Representatives member, held that if Buruji was sure of himself and his fact that police and the DSS were taking steps to arrest and extradite him to the United States, he should execute the two earlier judgments which were in his favour.
Abang in the ruling said it was not necessary for the Federal High Court to issue a fresh order against the defendants in the matter since the same court had delivered two judgments in favour of the senator on the subject matter.
Kashamu had approached the court in Abuja seeking an order to bar the police and the DSS from forcefully arresting and extraditing him to US to go and face trial on alleged hard drug related offences.
He premised his case on the grounds that he had information that operatives of the police and the DSS were taking steps to abduct him in any part of the country by force and extradite him to the US.
In his motion on notice filed by his counsel Mr. Godswill Mrakpor, the senator claimed that unless the court granted him the injunctive order, his security would be put in jeopardy.
But Justice Abang said:”On this issue of the alleged plan by the respondents to abduct the applicant, I am aware that the applicant has various court judgments in his favour.
“If he is apprehensive and is so sure of himself and his facts, that he is about to be extradited to the US, he is at liberty to execute the various judgments so as to stop the extradition.”
“The two judgments are still subsisting and therefore the applicant requires no fresh court order against the respondents before he can stop the extradition..
“If he is complaining that persons who were not parties in the previous judgments are threatening to take steps to extradite him to US by force, he can seek leave of the court to execute the earlier judgements delivered in his favour.
“He can do so in line with provisions of section 133 of the criminal code and he does not need a fresh order or fresh suit to achieve that.”
On the petition to the Inspector General of Police by Adebutu that he, Kashamu was threatening his life, the judge ordered that the status quo be maintained in the petition on the allegation pending the determination of the motion on notice filed by the senator.
The judge said the police and other respondents should not act on the petition since a court action had already been instituted on the matter.
Justice Abang said his decision to suspend investigation into the petition and the possible arrest was based on the consent of the parties that they should suspend action on life issue as it was before the court.
The judge however referred the case file to the Chief Judge of the court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, for reassignment to another judge after vacation.
He said that his tenure as a vacation judge would end on September 9 and that he could not afford to open a fresh case he would not be able to complete during vacation.
