GO TO THE UNITED STATES AND FACE THE MUSIC

Are you aware that the Federal Government can send an accused person to any Country without such individual paying a kobo? The only problem is, the person would not be going there for greener pasture or as representative of Nigeria, but to spend the best part of his/her life in prison. This process is known as “Extradition”.

Extradition is a process whereby an individual is handed over by the authorities of a country (host country) to another (requesting country) for prosecution or punishment for a crime or crimes committed by the individual against the requesting country. This is very much what happened to Hushpuppi. Remember that he was alleged to have committed an offence of internet fraud against the government of the United States and was extradited from United Arab Emirate (the country where he was at the time of the arrest).

So, yes, extradition is a thing. It is usually applicable to countries that have Extradition laws and Treaties. This treaty is an agreement between countries, and simply imply that whenever a fugitive/offender is resident or hiding in one of the countries to the treaty, that country has the responsibility to release the fugitive/offender to the requesting country for prosecution.

In Nigeria, we have the Extradition Act 2004 and a Treaty that was entered into by our colonial masters on our behalf in 1931. So, when a Nigerian or anyone living in Nigeria commits an offence against a country who is a party to that treaty or a country under the Extradition Act, the Nigeria government has the responsibility to extradite the said person to the country should they make such request.

I know you want to ask, why are we talking about this today? Well, apart from the fact that we have had extraditions before now, I am pretty sure you have heard of the three Nigerians (Samuel Ogoshi, 22, Samson Ogoshi, 20, and Ezekiel Ejehem Robert, 19) that are about to be extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face the criminal charges of sexual exploitation and sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death (30 years imprisonment to Life in prison), conspiracy to sexually exploit minors (15-30 years), conspiracy to distribute child pornography (5-20 years), and conspiracy to commit stalking through the internet (5 years).

The gist is that sometime in 2022, these three young men had through a site cajoled a 17-year old American by name Jordan DeMay to send his nude pictures to them. On obtaining it, they requested him to send the sum of $1,000 or have the pictures sent to  his family members, phone contacts, social medial followers and school mates. The young boy begged his blackmailers and sent only $300. The threats continued and the boy in one of the chats told the blackmailers that he would kill himself if they continued.

According to clickondetroit.com here is how some of the conversation went;

Blackmailers

(using dani.robertts):          Enjoy your miserable life.

Victim:                                      I’m kms rn (I’m kill myself right now)

Bc of you (Because of you)

Blackmailers

(using dani.robertts):          Good. Do that fast. Or I’ll make you do it.

Clickondetroit.com went on to say that on March 25, 2022, the teenage boy was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The FBI agents eventually traced the case to Nigeria and met with Nigerian Law enforcement official (EFCC) who made the arrest. All three are currently waiting to be extradited.

The Extradition Process

Let me make this simple. Extradition does not work like magic. There is a legal process that must be followed. Section 6 of the Extradition Act, 2004.

1. The requesting country through its diplomatic representative (i.e Ambassador/High Commissioner) would send a request to the Attorney General of Nigeria, requesting that the suspect/fugitive be surrendered to them to face criminal trial. In doing so, they have to give facts of the offence (i.e the said action of the offender is actually an offence in their country), evidence of the crime, warrants or indictments.
2. Then on seeing the evidence and believing same to be sufficient, the appropriate authorities of the host country would arrest the suspect.
3. After the arrest, there would be a court hearing. The court would determine whether suspect is to be extradited or not. Take for instance, is the offence an extradition offence, or if he is exempted from extradition. Should the Court hold that the suspect be extradited, it would grant the order.
4. Once the order has been granted, the Attorney General MAY instruct that the suspect be surrendered to the requesting country, so he/she can answer for his/ her crimes.

Noticed I used the word “MAY”, this is because, the law gives the Attorney General of the Federal the power to refuse extradition.

The truth is, the Attorney General has broad discretionary powers, and the Courts do not have the powers to question his discretion in this matter. The Courts have even held that the “the discretion to accede to an extradition request is that of the Attorney General of the Federation, not the Court….”

You see, the Attorney General is the one that has the final say over the lives of the three Nigerians.

The question now is, do you think the Attorney General would accede to the extradition request of these three young boys by the United States of America?