NewsRescue
Reprieve may be coming the way of the embattled Senator representing
Ogun East, Buruji Kashamu, as the National Chairman of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Odigie Oyegun has vowed to see to
it that he (Kashamu) is saved from being extradited to the United
States of America (USA) to face trial for his alleged involvement in
drug trafficking.
Senator Kashamu was however said to have been told in clear terms that
he should formally decamp to the APC and accept Ogun State Governor,
Ibikunle Amosun as his leader as the only condition for the federal
government to intervene in his matter.
The Senator was said to have argued that he should rather be allowed
to remain in PDP and continue to work for the APC, but Oyegun
objected, arguing that the power brokers in the APC, especially
Governor Amosun do not trust him (Kashamu) to that extent, more so
that he is also interested in the Ogun State governorship in 2019.
Sources said Senator Kashamu met with Chief Oyegun in Abuja on Monday
night and he was assured by the APC national chairman that; “For all
that you have done for our party, and most importantly that the new
United States President, Donald Trump is not friendly with our
government, we will resist any attempt to extradite you.”
Oyegun, who was full of praises for Senator Kashamu for his roles in
ensuring victory for the APC in Edo and Ondo States governorship
elections, was quoted to have said that the moment Senator Kashamu
joins APC, he will ensure that the federal government do everything
within its powers to prevent the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
Senator from being extradited to United States.
Our source disclosed that to assure Senator Kashamu of his
seriousness, Chief Oyegun called the Attorney General of the
Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who also assured
that all necessary legal means will be deployed to frustrate any move
by the United States government to extradite the Senator.
“Senator has assisted our party and our government greatly. It is
partly to his credit that PDP lost Edo and Ondo States governorship
elections and that PDP remained destabilised. This is a payback time
and we will stand by him at this trying period so as to give other PDP
top-shots willing to join our party the assurance that we will always
protect them.
“You can see what we have done for Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, Senator
Joshua Dariye, and even the Senate President, Bukola Saraki. Now that
Saraki has opted to team up with us and behave well, he now has peace
of mind,” the source quoted the Attorney General to have said.
For 18 years, Senator Kashamu has remained in the eyes of the storm,
being wanted in the United States for allegedly acting as the kingpin
of a drug smuggling and money laundering ring. It was the same
operation that landed American author Piper Kerman in jail for a year
and inspired her memoir “Orange Is The New Black.”
Kashamu strenuously denies the charges and claims it’s a case of
mistaken identity; he says the US really wants his late brother, but
he has refused to heed calls that he should visit the United States to
clear his name once and for all.
Last week, a United States Appeals Court upheld a ruling against
Senator Kashamu.
In an April 2015 filing, Kashamu asked a district court to prevent his
“abduction abroad by U.S. authorities.”
The court however dismissed the complaint, and the U.S. Seventh
Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling last Monday. It said United
States agents’ attempt to arrest Kashamu in coordination with local
authorities would not constitute “an attempted abduction
Troubled by this court judgment, the embattled senator warned
yesterday, that before anybody could succeed to extradite him to the
US to face trial for drug-related offences, “about three, four or five
people will die.”
He vowed that any attempt to ‘abduct’ him would be met with violence,
saying he planned to engage the services of members of the Oodua
Peoples’ Congress for protection.
The senator vowed that any attempt to ‘abduct’ him would be met with
violence, and that he planned to engage the services of members of the
Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) for protection.
He said, “There is no extradition that can be brought against me
again. The only thing they can do is to watch and catch me on the
road; take me to the airport or Cotonou or throw me inside a vessel
and take me through the Atlantic Ocean. But I am not going to let that
happen. I don’t go to the beach, and now, I will go and hire OPC, may
be like 40. I will load them (in my vehicle), because the day we meet,
one has to kill one. That is for sure! One has to kill one because I
am not ready to go anywhere. Before that happens, maybe about three,
four or five people will die.”
