A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member, Deji Babington-Ashaye, has raised an alarm that Senator Buruji Kashamu is working to see him jailed. Babington-Ashaye is being prosecuted by an Abeokuta Magistrate's Court for allegedly calling Kashamu a "drug baron and jail breaker" on a PDP Whatsapp chat group. The alleged offence was said to have been committed between 12 and 13 March 2016.
At the court hearing on 13 April, the prosecuting counsel asked the court to strike out the previously filed charges of libel and slander against Babington-Ashaye, opting to replace them with new ones related to breach of public peace and a threat to Kashamu's life.
While the defence requested that his client be granted bail, the prosecuting counsel asked the court deny him bail or grant him one on very stringent conditions to prevent him from absconding.
The Chief Magistrate Babington-Ashaye bail in the sum of N250,000 and two sureties with evidence of 2015 tax clearance issued by the government of Ogun State government.
So far, the accused has been granted bail three times in the sum of N250,000 each. The court also ordered
Kashamu to appear at the next hearing billed for 29 April.
Ashaye's conviction that Kashamu is desperate to have him jailed is founded on the replacement of the old charges related to character defamation, libel or slander.
He sees the new charges of "conduct likely to breach public peace and a threat to life" as a desperate design by Kashamu to have him jailed. As such, Babington-Ashaye called on the media and the general public not to be indifferent to his plight in the hands of the senator.
Kashamu is wanted in the United States on drug-related charges and escaped extradition with the help of corrupt judges on his payroll.