Air Peace CEO moves to foil extradition to US over $44.9m fraud allegations
By Samson Echenim
Embattled chief executive of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has moved to foil his possible extradition by the Nigerian government to the United States, where he has been charged for $44.9 million fraud, which he allegedly laundered on aircraft purchases, according to US arttoney, B.J. Pak.
In a suit instituted by Johnmary Jideobi, a Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist, on behalf of Onyema, at Federal High Court, Abuja, the Air Peace boss sought enforcement of his fundamental human rights, urging the court to declare that the government “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 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”.
However, no date has been fixed for hearing.
The Abuja based legal practitioner in the suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/1446/2019 filed on Monday, prayed the court to bar the federal government of Nigeria and attorney general of the federation/minister of justice, Abubakar Malami, as well as other agencies of government from harassing or extraditing Onyema to the US against his will.
He sought a seven-point relief including a declaration by the court that the Federal Government and or any of its agencies with prosecutorial powers as represented by Malami who is the respondent ” is/are without powers to abridge the fundamental right of Onyema to freedom of movement as denoted by Section 35 of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
The lawyer 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”.
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”.
However, Jideobi wants the court to determine whether having regard to the provision of Section 46 (1) & (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the Fundamental Rights of the Air Peace boss to freedom of movement, protected by sections 35 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), have not been endangered and exposed to erosion by the facts and circumstances revealed in the US charges.