The immediate past Nigerian Ambassador to Zambia and Malawi, Folake Marcus Bello, has advised Nigerian senator, Buruji Kashamu, to go to the United States of America and sort himself out on the drug allegation leveled against him, rather than wait until he is extradited.
The diplomat gave the advice in an interview on a live radio programme on Sweet FM in Abeokuta.
She said Kashamu’s lawyers should have told him before now to go and clear his name.
She said, “Crime does not go away, it does not expire. It will continue to rear its head, nobody can claim he is guilty or innocent until he goes to clear this mess.”
Marcus-Bello, who is also a lawyer, said Kashamu should consider his reputation and that of his family and Nigeria as a country.
She added, “For the sake of himself, his family, his constituency of hardworking, honest Ijebus, he should travel to get justice. It is simple, if they are looking for you, buy a ticket and go defend yourself.
“It is like they say they are looking for Folake Marcus Bello for children trafficking. I would buy a ticket and go to the embassy and say ‘here I am, please give me a visa let me go’”
“It is shameful that somebody at that level, a senator of the Republic of Nigeria representing my constituents in Ogun State would say he would rather die, call up the private army of OPC to fight rather than being taken abroad. Why?”
On Mr. Kashamu’s contention that Nigerian and British courts had acquitted him, the former ambassador argued that it was a faulty argument.
“Look let me tell you, I am a lawyer. Crime never goes away. This is mistake a lot of people make and it is also part of our problem in this country; we don’t know the law, we don’t know our rights, we don’t read, we don’t learn. It is a simple matter.
“Crime does not go away. If you have committed a crime and you have not served the punishment for that crime, let us assume you committed a crime at age 21, you can go on till you are 90, the day you are caught you will be tried and you will serve the punishment.
“He is my Senator, some of us from his constituency will escort him to ensure he gets justice. We know he will get justice, it is an organised society. Let him clear this for the sake of Ogun State, for the sake of Ijebus for the sake of Nigeria. It is just a question of taking a flight to defend himself.”
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