This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 001737 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR L/LEI-VISEK, INL AND AF/W 
. 
DOJ FOR OIA-JASON CARTER AND OPDAT-JIM SILVERWOOD 
. 
NSC FOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2017 
TAGS: CJAN KCRM SNAR NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA:  SUCCESSFUL EXTRADTION OF GABRIEL UMOH 
 
 
REF: A. ABUJA 1592 
     ¶B. LAGOS 887 
     ¶C. STATE 69699 
     ¶D. STATE 69669 
 
 
This is an action cable; action for INL in para 16. 
 
 
Classified by CDA Timothy D. Andrews for reasons 1.5(b) and 
(d). 
 
 
1.(U) Summary:  The Government of Nigeria turned over 
fugitive Gabriel Etim Umoh to Embassy's LEGATT on June 8 and 
he was flown out of the country, bound for Washington, via a 
commercial flight that evening.  GON cooperation was 
excellent.  The Attorney General oversaw the GON's side of 
the process and personally intervened with prison authorities 
to ensure Umoh was transferred to the LEGATT's custody in a 
timely manner.  This success reflects the GON's commitment to 
improved law enforcement cooperation with us.  We would like 
to think it presages progress on our pending extradition 
requests for at least 11 more fugitives, but our optimism 
should be cautious.  End Summary. 
 
 
2.(SBU) In response to formal USDOJ extradition papers 
presented to the Ministry of Justice in early February, 
Attorney General Kanu Agabi on April 10 ordered the start of 
extradition proceedings for Umoh.  A U.S.-Nigeria dual 
national, Umoh was convicted of mail fraud in the court 
district of Central California and sentenced to 18 months 
imprisonment followed by three years of probation.  Free on 
bond, Umoh fled to Nigeria rather than reporting to prison. 
In mid-April, Umoh's extradition proceedings opened in the 
Lagos High Court. 
 
 
3.(SBU) Court proceedings ended on May 13 and the presiding 
judge issued a favorable ruling on May 20.  The Director of 
Public Prosecutions, Mrs. I.S. Omiyi, formally notified the 
Embassy June 5 that an order transferring Umoh to the 
Embassy's custody would be forthcoming within days. 
 
 
4.(SBU) Mission elements worked on the assumption that the 
extradition should proceed as quickly as possible.  LEGATT 
Michael Bonner volunteered to escort Umoh to Washington on a 
commercial flight and USSS Assistant Attache' Frank Boudreau 
agreed to be the second escort.  On June 7, the Embassy 
responded to Omiyi's letter, stating that we were ready and 
wanted to proceed with the transfer forthwith.    In a phone 
call with RNLEO that afternoon, the AG agreed to sign the 
order immediately.  He agreed to fly a MOJ official fly to 
Lagos with the original copy of the order on the morning of 
June 8. 
 
 
Prison Problems 
--------------- 
 
 
5.(SBU) On June 8, Omiyi, LEGATT, RNLEO, a Police/Interpol 
Officer and the MOJ official who carried the AG's order from 
Abuja went directly to the Prison in Lagos, where the group 
found a recalcitrant Prison Supervisor who offered myriad 
reasons for not turning over the fugitive -- ranging from the 
inconvenient timing (the weekend) and lack of an explicit 
court order, to uncertainty over the authenticity of the AG's 
written order.  The Embassy officers remained silent during 
this exchange. 
 
 
6.(C) RNLEO phoned the AG's personal assistant in Abuja (who 
was in the AG's residence) and got the AG on the phone with 
the DPP.  The AG then spoke with the Prison Superintendent, 
who produced Umoh within 15 minutes.  (Note: The AG's Special 
Assistant later disclosed to RNLEO that the AG had informed 
the Prison Superintendent that if he didn't transfer Umoh the 
AG would go to the President and have him fired.  The AG also 
warned that anyone obstructing this lawful extradition would 
be disciplined.  End Note) 
 
 
7.(SBU) According to the MOJ officials who were inside the 
prison, when Umoh was informed he would be leaving for the 
U.S., he attempted to forestall the extradition by claiming 
that he had filed an appeal. The DPP reportedly noted that no 
such appeal had been registered with the court.  Umoh then 
stated that he planned to file the appeal when courts 
reopened on Monday.  This did not impress the DPP and Umoh 
was soon transferred to the custody of the Nigerian 
Police(Interpol) officer and escorted to a temporary police 
holding facility nearby.  Four hours later (7pm) LEGATT and 
USSS Asst. Attache arrived in U.S. Mission vehicles with 
Consulate security escorts and formally took Umoh into USG 
custody.  RNLEO accompanied the group to the airport. 
 
 
Departure Time 
-------------- 
 
 
8.(SBU) The U.S. Mission received excellent cooperation from 
Nigerian authorities during the crucial transfer of Umoh to a 
KLM flight at Lagos' Murtala Muhammed International Airport. 
RNLEO requested NDLEA assistance in providing security and a 
secure area where Umoh could be held; NDLEA Chairman Lafiaji 
obliged immediately.  The Federal Aviation Authority of 
Nigeria's (FAAN) Chief of Security for the airport met the 
arriving convoy at the diplomatic parking area and escorted 
the party to the NDLEA hold area, allowing the US officials 
and the fugitive to bypass the more congested arrival hall. 
The FAAN official later escorted the travelers through a 
direct route to the gate.  KLM also was very cooperative, 
allowing for early boarding and selective seating. 
 
 
9.(SBU) Umoh and his FBI/USSS escorts departed Lagos at 
10:40pm on KLM flight 588 and, after pre-arranged assistance 
from Dutch Immigration, the party connected to Northwest 
Flight 35 that left Amsterdam on June 9 and arrived at 
Washington/Dulles at 2:10pm.  At Dulles Airport, U.S. 
Marshals took Umoh, escorting him to California. 
 
 
Umoh's Case 
----------- 
 
 
10.(SBU) Gabriel Umoh, a dual U.S./Nigerian national, had 
plead guilty and was convicted of one charge of Mail Fraud in 
the court of the Central District of California in November 
¶1987.  Before beginning his prison sentence of 18 months and 
3 years of probation, he violated bail and fled to Nigeria. 
In November 1998 the USG requested Umoh's arrest but no 
action was forthcoming.  In February 2001 Umoh and two 
Nigerian narcotics fugitives were arrested by the Nigerian 
police.  The GON planned to render these three fugitives to 
US justice without formal extradition proceedings, similar to 
the process used to render four fugitives in November 2000. 
After the USG indicated the need for formal extradition 
hearings, the police in April 2001 released them. 
 
 
11.(SBU) Through the Embassy, DOJ resubmitted full 
documentation for Umoh's arrest and extradition in February 
¶2002.  Umoh was rearrested shortly after the Attorney General 
signed the official order to start extradition proceedings in 
his case on April 8.  Those proceedings started one week 
later. 
 
 
12.(SBU) According to the MOJ prosecutor presenting the 
Ministry's case for Umoh's extradition before the Federal 
High Court, the defense counsel attempted to argue that the 
crime (mail fraud) was not covered under the U.S.-UK 
Extradition treaty of 1931 or the 1967 Nigerian Extradition 
Act.  This argument failed.  MOJ prosecutors are not entirely 
sure why Umoh did not immediately appeal the judge's ruling, 
but speculate that given the lack of any successful 
extraditions in the past, Umoh's attorney may not have seen 
the urgency in filing that appeal. 
 
 
13.(C) Comment:  In any event, the attorney's failure to act 
promptly, together with GON determination to help us move 
swiftly, produced the first judicial extradition to the U.S. 
from Nigeria in at least a decade -- perhaps longer.  This is 
a major accomplishment, and we would like to think it bodes 
well for our many other extradition requests.  However, we 
need to temper our optimism.  Umoh's case was different from 
most as he had already been convicted.  Also, Umoh may hot 
have had the same resources available to him to corrupt 
judicial proceedings that we believe other fugitives have 
often employed. End Comment 
 
 
Kudos and Action Request 
------------------------ 
 
 
14.(C) The new Attorney General moved our request for Umoh's 
extradition through the judicial system at a remarkable pace. 
 According to his Special Assistant, Agabi expressed his 
desire to erase Nigeria's poor image as a criminal haven. 
This first extradition under the Obasanjo administration has 
shown that the corruption-plagued Nigerian justice system can 
work when pushed.  Umoh's  status as a convicted (vice 
indicted) fugitive probably helped the public prosecutor's 
case.  Umoh's extradition also benefited from an ideal level 
of GON support -- from the Attorney General just a cell phone 
call away to having the Director of Public Prosecutions 
accompany LEGATT and RNLEO to the Prison.  The timing was 
also perfect.  A late Friday order from the AG to the Prison 
and the Police and an immediate Saturday departure preempted 
a last minute appeal.  It was disappointing, but not 
surprising given Nigeria's endemic corruption, that the AG 
had to make explicit threats to get line officers to obey his 
formal and written orders. 
15.(C) During his transport to the United States, Umoh 
confided to Legatt that the federal Prison Ikoyi was grossly 
overcrowded and he paid N30,000 for a semi private jail cell 
with a television set.  Umoh stated that he had planned to 
file his appeal first thing Monday and the Prison Official 
was aware of his plan.  Umoh stated that the official,s 
reluctance to release him was a result of his knowledge that 
Umoh was going to file the appeal.  Keeping Umoh in prison 
was to the official,s advantage because he would continue to 
receive payments from Umoh for his privilege of a 
semi-private jail cell.  Umoh stated that the official 
offered to get him released from prison for N800,000. 
16.(SBU) Kudos for team work all around.  This success 
reflects excellent teamwork on all sides.  We want to thank 
Jason Carter and others in DOJ/OIA, Peter Prahar and Ed Flood 
in INL, Steve Cutler and others at FBI Headquarters, Richard 
Visek in L/LEI, Carl Cundiff and Dan Epstein in AF/W, and all 
others in Washington who contributed to this extremely 
short-fused coordination task -- all done by phone and e-mail 
before we could get a cable out.  That great Washington 
support was mirrored by teamwork at the U.S. Mission here, 
from getting formal correspondence to the Nigerian Justice 
Ministry to arranging security for the prisoner transfer and 
a Consular Section travel letter for the passport-less 
prisoner.  And, of course, we appreciate the efforts of some 
terrific counterparts in the Nigerian Police and Ministry of 
Justice who went beyond the call of duty to make sure this 
happened. 
 
 
17.(C) We will begin plans for the next extradition already 
in train -- Daniel Orhiumu (ref D), also convicted of fraud. 
Encouraged by our success with Umoh and with valuable lessons 
learned in that process, we hope the Justice Ministry will 
work with us in clearing the backlog of extradition requests, 
while entertain new requests.  We would caution, however, 
that Umoh's case may have been easier for the court to 
process and, as the first extradition success, it had the 
benefit of surprise -- other fugitives may be better prepared 
to file quick appeals. 
 
 
18.(SBU) Action Request for INL:  In light of this positive 
development, we would like to set dates for the INL-funded 
OPDAT extradition workshop in Abuja and involving US and 
Nigerian MOJ prosecutors and Nigerian High Court judges.  We 
would propose July or August as a general time-frame. 
ANDREWS