Al-Qaeda: Fed Govt to extradite Nigerian suspect to US

The Federal Government has initiated extradition proceedings against a
Nigerian, Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi, suspected to be a member of the
terrorist organisation, al-Qaeda.
He is to be extradited to the United States of America (USA).
Government has applied to the Federal High Court in Abuja for the
extradition of Babafemi (32 years) who is also known as “Abdullah” and
“Ayatollah Mustapher” in the US where he is wanted for his alleged
involvement in terrorism.
Attached to the government application was the four-count charge-
marked:13CR-109-JG- filed against the suspect at the United States
District Court of the Eastern District of New York, and a bench warrant
issued for his arrest by a US magistrate.
He is charged with “conspiracy to provide support to a foreign
terrorist organisation, provision and attempted provision of material
support to a foreign terrorist organisation, unlawful use of firearms
and conspiracy to unlawfully use firearms.”
The offences, on conviction, attract a minimum sentence of 10 years
and maximum of life imprisonment.
Babafemi, who until now, was based in the US, fled to Nigeria after
realising that he was to be arrested by men of the US Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI).
He is currently in the custody of the Department of State Services
(DSS).
The US suspects Babafemi to belong to the “al-Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula (AQAP)” an affiliate of al-Qaeda.
He allegedly travelled to Yemen between January 2010 and August
2011 to train with the group and relate with its senior members
including the now deceased Anwar al-Aulaqi and Samir Khan.
Babafemi was said to have admitted, during interrogation that he was
paid about $8,600 by the AQAP to return to Nigeria and recruit some
English speaking individuals to work in AQAP’s English language media
organisation.
The media organisation is believed to serve as the organisation’s
medium of radicalising English speakers, who it recruits to commit
terrorist attacks on its behalf.
The extradition application could not be heard when he was taken to
court on Thursday owing to its late service on Babafemi’s lawyer, S. O.
Yahaya.
State’s lawyer and Head, Central Authority Unit, Federal Ministry of
Justice, Muslim Hassan, who said court processes were served on
Babafemi a day before his appearance in court, however agreed to
Yahaya’s request for more time to file his counter processes.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed fixed hearing of the extradition application
for August 28.