Following the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, several people have asked if the Federal Government of Nigeria was on its right to arrest the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who not only was in another country at the time but also has dual citizenship, Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
It is, however, pertinent to know that a person accused or convicted of a crime can officially be transferred to the state/country where the individual is either wanted for trial or required to serve a sentence after being duly convicted by a court of law.
Nnamdi Kanu’s movement, the IPOB, has been labelled as a terrorist organisation by the Nigerian authorities. He was initially held in 2015 on treason charges but then fled the country in 2017, while on bail.
Kanu, who is being prosecuted on charges of treasonable felony, was re-arrested and returned to Nigeria on Sunday, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said earlier.
According to the AGF, the IPOB leader was arrested through “collaborative efforts of Nigerian intelligence and security services.”
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What is extradition?
Extradition is a process by which a person accused or convicted of a crime is officially transferred to the State/country where the individual is either wanted for trial or required to serve a sentence after being duly convicted by a court of law. As defined by the Court of Appeal in George Udeozor v Federal Republic of Nigeria, extradition is the process of returning somebody, upon request, accused of a crime by a different legal authority to the requesting authority for trial or punishment.
For the purposes of extradition proceedings, a person is only deemed to be wanted for a trial where a court of law has issued a warrant requiring that the person be brought to answer criminal allegations in court.
However, extradition as a process is not governed by an international treaty regime or overseen by the United Nations. It typically involves a treaty between two states. If one country agrees to extradite a person to another, this is done as a matter of comity rather than because of a legal obligation.
The Extradition Act, 1966 was enacted on 31 December 1966 and came into operation in January 1967. It was enacted to repeal all previous extradition laws made by or applicable to Nigeria and to provide for a more comprehensive legal regime with respect to the extradition of fugitive offenders.
While the Constitution provides the general foundational legal framework for extradition law and practice, the Extradition Act is the primary legislation for specific matters.
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How the Nigerian extradition process works?
Extradition proceedings in Nigeria are strictly guided by the Extradition Act and Extradition Proceedings Rules.
When a country request for a person to be extradited, the Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Justice has the duty to ensure that certain extradition prerequisites are fulfilled.
All citizens have rights relating to movement, liberty and dignity of the person backed up by the 1999 Constitution. This means a citizen or non-citizen alike cannot be handed over to another country in the name of extradition unless the court is satisfied with the facts and position of the law.
The person to be extradited must have committed the offence and evidence relating to those facts must be presented to the Court before an extradition application can be granted.
Who can be extradited and for what crime?
Not all crimes are extraditable offences. This implies that it is not enough to show that the alleged fugitive has committed an offence, it must be shown that the alleged offence is an extraditable offence. The most common crimes which may be subject to extradition include murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, terrorism, rape, sexual assault, burglary, embezzlement, and arson.
However, any request for extradition aimed at prosecuting or punishing any fugitive on account of the fugitive’s race, religion, nationality or political opinions will be refused.
Political offences are also not extraditable. These are acts or conducts that are directed against the government or sovereign authorities of a state without elements of common crime. These crimes violate the State and not any individual person. Examples of such offences are treason, sedition, espionage, and to a large extent disagreement with state ideology.
Some common cases of extradition in Nigeria
Nigeria has extradition treaties with several countries, prominent among them include the United States of America, South Africa, Liberia, and the United Kingdom.
Nigeria signed the Extradition Treaty with the United States on December 22, 1931, and entered into force on June 24, 1935. Since then Nigeria has extradited several persons to the United States for various reasons ranging from drug, advance fee fraud, and terrorism-related offenses. However, there is no public record showing the extradition of United States citizens to Nigeria since the treaty became effective in 1935.
Here are some extradition cases and how they were addressed
Adedeji Adeniran’s $4.1m fraud case
On November 2, 2019, Nigeria extradited Adedeji Adeniran, age 56, to the Northern District of Florida. He arrived in the United States on November 3. Adeniran was the leader of a criminal group that committed a large bank fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud, a conspiracy that involved a loss of $4.1 million and involved 42 victim financial institutions.
Between 2002 and 2004, members of the criminal group fraudulently obtained the identities of others and opened numerous bank accounts in the United States. The group members deposited counterfeited or forged checks into those accounts and then wired the proceeds of the fraud to Hong Kong, Turkey, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates.
Lawal Babafemi’s conspiracy with al-Qaeda
On August 28, 2013, Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi, also known as Ayatollah Mustapha, was extradited to stand trial in the US Court as documents alleged that he was linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a militant Islamist group. He had travelled to Yemen between January 2010 and August 2011 to receive training and to make contact with Al-Awlaqi, a Yemeni-born American cleric, and Khan, who were subsequently killed in a drone strike.
Babafemi received about $8,600 (N3.5m) to return to Nigeria and recruit English-speaking individuals to work in AQAP’s English-language media operation. He was extradited and was charged in the US with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation and unlawful use of firearms.
Buruji Kashamu’s 20-year-old drug charges
Another case was Buruji Kashamu, a politician who served as a senator in Nigeria. In 1998, Kashamu was indicted by a grand jury for conspiracy to import heroin, a prohibited substance, into the United States. He was indicted following incriminating evidence provided by three of his alleged co-conspirators.
Kashamu denied that he was not the leader of the drug-smuggling conspiracy. He claimed the drug-smuggling kingpin was his brother, Adewale Kashamu, who was allegedly killed in 1989 by the personnel of the Nigerian Customs. The US was relentless in its request that Kashamu is extradited to the United States.
In May 2015, the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) made an attempt to arrest and send him to the US but he refused to attend a court hearing on the 20-year-old drug charges.
To restate its commitment to the case, in 2016, a US Court of Appeal in Chicago, Illinois, ruled that Kashamu must answer his drug allegations. However, the Federal High Court, Abuja, ruled that neither the Federal Government nor any of its agents could validly initiate extradition proceedings against Kashamu in view of subsisting judgements and orders in favour of the plaintiff, which had remained unchallenged. However, he died in August 2020 from COVID-19 complications.
Charles Taylor and the Liberia civil war
Charles Taylor, a former president of Liberia, was offered Taylor asylum in 2003 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to bring Liberia’s civil war to an end. He initially said he would not hand Taylor over under any circumstances. Several months later, he said he would extradite him if a duly elected Liberian government requested this.
Taylor was indicted with war crimes, crimes against humanity and training and using child soldiers in Sierra Leone. When Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected as president of Liberia in 2006, she requested that Taylor be extradited to Liberia if the country will recover from the damage caused by years of civil war. Nigeria extradited Taylor to Liberia in 2006.
Nnamdi Kanu’s extradition from the UK
While the above cases of extradition were cases where Nigeria was required to extradite persons, Nnamdi Kanu was extradited from United Kingdom to Nigeria. This was possible because Nigeria has a multilateral extradition treaty with the United Kingdom.
“He has been brought back to Nigeria in order to continue facing trial after disappearing while on bail regarding 11 count charge against him,” Nigeria’s Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami said.
He is accused of engaging in subversive activities that include inciting violence through television, radio and online broadcasts against Nigeria and Nigerian State and institutions.
Kanu is also accused of instigating violence, especially in the Southeastern Nigeria, which resulted in the loss of lives and property of civilians, military, para military, police forces and destruction of civil institutions and symbols of authorities, Malami said.
Nnamdi Kanu appeared in court and his case was adjourned until July 26 and 27.
