…Senator-elect Placed Under House Arrest…To Be Docked For Extradition To US On Monday

Nigerian drug agents have placed under house arrest a senator-elect wanted by the United States in a nearly 20-year-old heroin deal that was the basis for the TV hit “Orange is the New Black.” Spokesman Mitchell Ofoyeju of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency said agents put Buruji Kashamu under house arrest at his Lekki phase 1Lagos home in the early hours of today.

He says Kashamu, 56, will appear in court Monday to start extradition proceedings to the United States. Kashamu had become a powerful politician, after being recognized as the main financier of President Goodluck Jonathan’s outgoing PDP.

iReports-ng.com gathered that before the wanted drug suspect was cornered to his home in the early hours of Saturday, Nigeria’s controversial Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke had Friday made the approval for Kashamu’s arrest his last official assignment. After giving the instruction, Adoke handed over the reins of his Ministry to his Permanent Secretary and thereafter left the country.

Adoke who had over the years stifled the operations of the three major law enforcement agencies under his ministry; EFCC, ICPC and NDLEA by offering official protection to suspects was compelled to act on an extradition request from the US government that has since been pending on his table. The AGF is widely known to have facilitated the withdrawal of criminal charges against suspects and sometimes applied that such be quashed in court.

He was said to have made the approval his last official engagement as a face saving move and for fear that the incoming Muhammadu Buhari government will see the request and act on it.

Kashamu has said the 1998 indictment by a grand jury in the Northern District of Illinois for conspiracy to import and distribute heroin in the U.S. is a case of mistaken identity and Chicago prosecutors really want his dead brother.

Not sure of where his trouble was coming from, Kashamu who is a Senator-elect for Ogun East district of Ogun state had in a statement today blamed PDP chieftain, Bode George and his wife, Roli who incidentally is NDLEA’s DG for his travails unknown to him that his friends who he had serviced with millions of dollars in government actually betrayed him in their last day in office.

Kashamu’s reaction was contained in a statement released in Lagos today, and signed by his media aide, Austin Oniyokor. According to the statement, the NDLEA operatives have surrounded the Lekki Phase 1, Lagos residence of the Senator-elect as early as 4.30am on Saturday, 23rd May, 2015 to effect the arrest. The statement stated further that the NDLEA operatives claimed they were acting on an extradition request from the United States of America (USA).

According to Kashamu, judgment on the pending suit would only be delivered on Wednesday, 27th May, 2015 and the court had ordered that status quo be maintained until the ruling of the court is delivered. He stated that both George and his wife want to use the arrest of Kashamu to score cheap political points. Full text of the statement reads:

“The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA) this morning (Saturday,23rd May, 2015) at about 4:30am surrounded the Lekki Phase 1, Lagos residence of Prince Buruji Kashamu to allegedly effect his arrest following a purported extradition request from the US. This latest onslaught is a confirmation of the alleged plot to illegally abduct him in spite of the pending suit against this illegality.

“As a matter of fact, the court has ordered parties in the matter including the NDLEA to maintain status quo until judgment is delivered on Wednesday 27th May 2015. We have confirmed that they do not have a warrant of arrest, just as the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice has said that it did not give any order to carry out this illegality.

“We have confirmed that this illegality is being designed and executed by Chief Bode George whose wife is the Director General of the NDLEA, all in a bid to score cheap political points. We urge all well meaning Nigerians to prevail on NDLEA, Chief George and his wife to toe the path of the rule of law and follow due process. Nigeria is not a Banana republic! The United States(US) being the bastion of democracy, the rule of law and due process should not lend itself to this kind of illegality.”