PDP Chieftain Kashamu Is Still A Wanted Man...US Govt Insist

The United States of America says the case of alleged drug smuggling against a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Buruji Kashamu, is still on and the suspect very much wanted.

“There is still a warrant for his arrest in the United States, and the case remains pending,” the US Department of Justice in Illinois said on Thursday.

The Public Information Officer, U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, Randall Samborn, said in a statement that Kashamu’s attoneys last week “ filed a new motion to dismiss the indictment in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and that is set for a status hearing on Jan. 31, at which time the Court will likely set a briefing schedule for both sides to submit written arguments before any decision is made.”

Kashamu immediately dismissed the report as a lie.

Reacting to the report yesterday, he said the matter has always been that of mistaken identity.

He said the warrant of arrest issued against him 20 years ago in the US “collapsed once the British court held that it was a case of mistaken identity.”

His spokesman, Austin Oniyikor, said: “When Prince Kashamu was arrested in London upon the mere suspicion that he fits into the description that the suspects gave, after a rigorous trial spanning three and a half years, he was released once the court found that it was a case of mistaken identity.

“It should also be noted that the case itself is statute barred, according to the US laws, by reason of the fact that it failed to bring any fresh action against Prince Kashamu within two and a half years after his release by the British court.

“Persuaded that he is innocent of charges against him and based on his acquittal and eventual release by the British courts – the third time in a row – Prince Kashamu instructed his lawyers in the US to file an action in the US court seeking to quash the charges against him. Of course, this is inclusive of the initial warrant of arrest that was used to arrest him in London. He took this step to clear his name once and for all.

“The point that should be noted here is that the latest action in the US was commenced by Prince Kashamu in order to clear his name; not (by) the US authorities. We reckon that it will be illogical to expect the US government to drop the warrant and charges without a judicial pronouncement, especially when, according to them, some of those involved are still at large.”

On the US-UK Extradition Treaty Kashamu believes that “individuals are only extradited after a UK court has reviewed the case and determined that it meets the legal requirements for extradition.

“In this instance, the unassailable British court reviewed it, found that if falls short of its high standard and freed Prince Kashamu. He is free indeed, and no amount of sponsored and twisted reports can equate a judicial pronouncement!”

Kashamu’s frontline role in the affairs of the PDP especially in the Southwest was cited by former President Olusegun Obasanjo for withdrawing from the activities of the party.

The former president described Mr. Kashamu, who is the Chairman of the Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of PDP, South West, as a “habitual criminal” wanted by the United States government on drug charges.

To back his claim, Mr. Obasanjo forwarded to the President and the PDP leadership, a cache of incriminating documents on Mr. Kashamu, including court papers and media clippings.

One of the documents, a story in the Chicago Tribune newspaper edition of November 14, 2013 quoted the U.S attorney’s office as saying Mr. Kashamu “is still wanted on charges alleging his drug ring moved millions of dollars’ worth of heroin from Europe and Southeast Asia through O’Hare International Airport during the 1990s.”

Mr. Kashamu said that Obasanjo was crying foul because he had lost relevance in the PDP.