From Godwin Tsa Abuja
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice(AGF), Lateef Fagbemi SAN has clarified that the Federal government has not initiated any extradition process against Simon Ekpa.
Rather, the AGF said the Nigerian government has been engaging with Finnish authorities to ensure that Simon Ekpa is held accountable for his actions.
Ekpa, a leader of the proscriped Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is currently standing trial in Finland for charges filed against him by the Finnish government.
Fagbemi was responding to media reports that the Federal government had commenced an extradition process against Simon Ekpa.
In a statement yesterday by his media aid, Kamarudeen Ogundele, Fagbemi described the report as completely untrue.
The statement reads: “The attention of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has been drawn to media reports where he was erroneously reported to have said that the federal government had commenced an extradition process against Simon Ekpa.
The report is untrue and a complete departure from what the AGF said at the Stakeholders/Citizen Engagement Forum held on Thursday in Abuja.
Ekpa, a leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is currently standing trial in Finland for charges filed against him by the Finnish government.
To set the record straight, what the AGF said during the question and answer session was that the Nigerian government had been engaging with Finnish authorities to ensure that Simon Ekpa is held accountable for his actions.
He explained that since the crimes committed by Simon Ekpa were cross-border in nature, the Nigerian government eagerly awaits the outcome of the proposed trial in Finland to have an informed decision on the next step to take.
The AGF appeals to the media to be circumspect and avoid reporting speculations on the sensitive matter.