Berende not extradited

...writes newspaper over misrepresentation Contrary to insinuations making the rounds that popular Islamic cleric in Ilorin, Alhaji Mustapha Berende, was jailed by United State authorities over charges of terrorism, his lawyer last night debunked the report, adding that his client is still in Abuja. Speaking to National Pilot over the matter, Counsel to Berende, Barrister AbdulMumini Hanafi, said he spoke with his client last Thursday over the issue.

A newspaper report (Not National Pilot) went viral in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, penultimate week, after the photograph of Berende was allegedly used by the paper to corroborate a report of the jailing of one Lawal Babafemi for 22 years by the United State authorities over terrorism charges. Although the Counsel refused to disclose the discursion that transpired between him and his client, Berende, he however told our reporter he will not be pressing charges against the national newspaper. “I spoke with him on Thursday over the issue right here in Abuja and I can tell you that he has not been extradited unlike the report that some newspapers reported about one Lawal Babafemi. “I have since written to the newspaper over the misrepresentation and I expect that they will do the right thing by making the necessary correction. “For me, so long as my client is on trial on alleged terrorism, I think apology this time around will be enough, I don’t intend to sue them, (the newspaper),” Hanafi added. Berende’s travails with the DSS authorities started in September 2012, when he was arrested from his home by DSS authorities over terrorism and espionage charges. He was subsequently transferred to Abuja after the arrest where he had since remained till now. It would be recalled that Berende was awarded judgment and damages amounting to about N1.5m against the DSS by Justice Olayinka Faji of the Federal High Court Ilorin in 2013 for detaining him unlawfully and infringing on his right. The DSS has reportedly appealed the judgment in Abuja and his trial since then has suffered several “adjournments”. His family including his nonagenarian father, Alhaji Amasa, has made several appeals for his release all to no avail. Penultimate week, a newspaper used his photograph to corroborate the report of one Lawal Babafemi, 35, who was sentenced by US District Judge John Gleeson in Brooklyn after pleading guilty in April 2014 to providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Some online reports over the matter had reported that the Babafemi usually adopt the pseudonym of “Ayatollah Mustapha” when he travelled out of the country, a report that was denied by Berende’s lawyer.