Nigeria court orders extradition of al Qaeda suspect to US

Nigeria court orders extradition of al Qaeda suspect to US
Matthew Pomy at 11:31 AM ET

[JURIST] A Nigerian court on Wednesday ordered the extradition of a suspected member of al Qaeda, Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi, to the US on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and unlawful use of firearms. Babafemi, who did not contest his extradition, is thought to have received training [AFP report] from al Qaeda in Yemen and then attempting to recruit others in Nigeria. Babafemi is alleged to have received [FBI press release] weapons training and approximately USD $9,000 from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in exchange for these recruitment activities. The indictment in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York [official website] was unsealed on Tuesday after being originally issued in February. Babafemi is the latest al Qaeda suspect involved in extradition proceedings. Last month a Dutch court blocked [JURIST report] the extradition of a suspect to the US. This came after the extradition was granted and subsequently appealed [JURIST report] in February. In January 2011 a British court approved [JURIST report] the extradition of alleged al Qaeda operative Abid Naseer to the US. In November 2011 the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear [JURIST report] the government's appeal in the extradition of accused al Qaeda arms supplier Abdullah Khadr, bringing to a close efforts to extradite him to the US.