Sudan didn’t frustrate Nyanya suspect’s extradition –Envoy

Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche

The Arab Republic of Sudan has said that the process of extraditing one of the masterminds of the April 14,2014 Nyanya blast, Sadiq Ogwuche, is on course and cannot be frustrated.

Contrary to a report that the Sudanese government had blocked the repatriation of the terror suspect, Sudan stated that no such thing happened, stressing that Ogwuche would be extradited to Nigeria as soon as the necessary formalities were concluded.

It stated that the extradition process was being handled by the International Criminal Police, otherwise known as INTERPOL, noting that the suspect would be brought back to Nigeria to stand trial for his crimes.

The Media Adviser to the Sudanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mohammed Abdulrahman, stated these in a telephone interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Monday.

He refuted a report by a national newspapers (not The PUNCH) that Sudan had blocked the extradition of Ogwuche, following the intervention of an unnamed Emir.

The newspaper had alleged that the Emir used his political connection in Sudan to frustrate the Nigerian officials that visited the country to bring back Ogwuche, adding that the officials came back to Nigeria in frustration.

The paper had reported, “It was learnt that when the officials of the Nigerian security agencies arrived Khartoum, Sudan, last week for the hand-over of Ogwuche by the Sudanese authorities, they were faced with conditions that were unknown to them, particularly against the backdrop of the fact that Sudan was not a signatory to any convention on the extradition of criminals and terrorists.

“Ogwuche’s wife, who is based in Sudan, is believed to be the interface between the Nigerian Emir and her husband’s lawyer that are battling to get the suspected terrorist out of the hook in Sudan.”

But Abdulrahman, who described the report as a fabrication, stressed that the blast suspect would be brought back to Nigeria once the extradition processes were completed.

He cited the extradition of former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, from Dubai to the United Kingdom, which he said took some time before it was perfected.

He noted that it involved court processes and other formalities that cannot be done in a hurry.

He said, “The process of extradition requires a lot of paper work and it often takes time. It is handled by the INTERPOL and no government can stop it. So, the report by a newspapers that Sudan stopped the extradition of the terror suspect is not true; it is a fabrication.

“We don’t have sympathies for Boko Haram because Sudan is against terrorism in all its ramfication. We are an international player and we don’t condone terrorist activities in any form. We have the Ahfad University for Women; so we support girls getting quality education and cannot support any violence against women or other people on the grounds of religion or politics.”

The media adviser condemned the abduction of over 200 school girls by the Boko Haram sect, saying the action was a crime against humanity.