The United States, Ghanaian and Indian authorities have written to the federal government requesting for the extradition of 11 Nigerians for alleged involvement in illicit deals including money laundering, fraud and drug-related offences.
The requests are contained in the ‘Ministerial Performance Report May 2019 – May 2020’ report prepared by the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami and presented to the federal executive council.
According to the report, the department of international cooperation in the ministry of foreign affairs received eight extradition requests from the US, three from Ghana and one from India between May 2019 and May 2020.
It also disclosed that the department received 62 requests for assistance in investigation under the Mutual Legal Assistance Nigeria signed with the named countries.
The ministry noted that it had sent letters to INTERPOL to locate the persons named in some of the extradition requests, adding, however, that it rejected the only extradition request from India which involved a case of alleged money laundering concerning four Indians.
“The request was denied by the HAGF (Honourable Attorney General of the Federation) because the offences allegedly committed by the suspects appeared to be political in nature.
“Letter denying the request was sent to India,” the report read.
The report noted that 42 Memoranda of Understanding and agreements between Nigeria and other countries were vetted during the period, while the ministry’s Department of Public Prosecutions received 1,120 terrorism-related cases in one year.
It noted further that 500 of the 1,120 cases had been filed at the Federal High Court “while others have been recommended for de-radicalisation.”
The ministry projected that by December about 250 cases would have been concluded while all the cases would have been concluded by 2023.
It added that over 3,392 general/financial matters-related cases were received from the Nigeria Police for prosecution at the magistrate courts due to the enactment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
It added, “We are happy to report that over 1,000 of these cases have been completed in the magistrate courts, with the defendants sentenced to various years in the correctional services.”
The ministry added that it was currently prosecuting 1,359 cases of conspiracy/armed robbery and 10 cases of Securities and Exchange Commission-related offences.
