Lagos – Human rights lawyer, Chief Femi Falana, SAN has lambasted the federal government for seeking the extradition of Sunday Adeyemo from the Benin Republic to Nigeria. Falana lamented that the same government is insisting that the arrest warrant issued against a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States will follow due process.
Falana, who stated this in an interview with BBC Yoruba on Tuesday, August 10 said the move shows that the Buhari-led government is bias. Kyari, the suspended former head of the Police Intelligence Response Team, is under investigation for alleged involvement in a $1.1m Internet fraud allegedly perpetrated by Abbas Ramon, popularly known as Hushpuppi, and four others. On the other hand, the Department of State Services had declared Igboho wanted for allegedly stockpiling arms to destabilise Nigeria but the activist denied the allegation.
Falana said: “The Nigerian government asked the Benin Republic government to repatriate Sunday Igboho. In fact, we heard they had even sent an aircraft to be used to bring him down to Abuja. “The Benin government made its Nigerian counterpart understand that the country is not lawless. They insisted on following the legal procedure and said without going to court, we can’t hand over Igboho to you.
“This is how it should be under the law; the judge will scrutinise Nigeria’s extradition request from Cotonou to Abuja. That is what the laws say in the Benin Republic, that is what the laws also say in Nigeria.
“That was why I criticised the hasty transfer of Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria. Now, the Federal Government wants Abba Kyari to go to court before he is transferred to the United States. And this is what the government should have done in the case of Kanu. “There are too many injustices in Nigeria and this is not good.”
Falana had earlier called on the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami, to process an extradition request from the US concerning Kyari. The senior lawyer said Nigeria must respect international treaties and ensure justice is served.
He added that the Special Investigative Panel set up the Inspection General of Police on the matter under review should do a thorough job.
