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Lawyer Asks Court To Bar Extradition Of Air Peace Boss, Allen Onyema, To US

November 26, 2019

The lawyer is also seeking the enforcement of the fundamental human rights of Onyema, who is currently facing fraud allegations in the US.

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A legal practitioner, Mr Johnmary Jideobi, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to bar the Nigerian Government from extraditing Chairman of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, to the United States of America.

The lawyer is also seeking the enforcement of the fundamental human rights of Onyema, who is currently facing fraud allegations in the US.

Jideobi in the suite no: FHC/ABJ/CS/1446/2019 filed on Monday, sought a seven-point relief including a declaration by the court that the Federal Government and or any of its agencies with prosecutorial powers is/are without powers to abridge the fundamental right of Onyema to freedom of movement as prescribed by Section 35 of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The legal practitioner also wants the court  to declare  "that on the authority of Diamond Bank PLC vs. Opara (2018) LPELR-43907(SC), the Federal Government of Nigeria and or any of its agencies with prosecutorial powers as represented by the respondent herein cannot derogate from the constitutional right to freedom of movement by attempting to forcefully expel and or extradite  Onyema from the shores of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to any other country of the world for the purposes of any criminal trial whose substance arose from underlying civil aviation contracts".

He also wants the court to declare that they "cannot give effect to any extradition request from any country of the world in so far as the ingredients or constituent facts of the indictment and or charges underlying the said request are traceable to or related to or arose from diverse civil aviation contracts entered into by Onyema through his duly registered companies with other duly registered companies in other jurisdictions especially in the United States of America".

Jideobi also sought an order of the court to “perpetually bar the Federal Government of Nigeria and or any of its agencies with prosecutorial powers as represented by the respondent herein either by themselves, their servants, privies, assigns or any other person or authority acting either in concert with them, on their behalf or under them from giving effect to any extradition request from any country of the world in so far as the ingredients or constituent facts of the indictment and or charges underlying the said request are traceable to or related with or arose from diverse civil aviation contracts entered into by Onyema through his duly registered companies with other duly registered companies in other jurisdictions especially in the United States of America".

No date has been fixed yet for hearing of the matter.