Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) a Civil rights advocacy group has called for the immediate arrest of embattled Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari after a damning revelation by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) linking the suspended DCP to drug trafficking.
The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, had alleged that the suspended Head of the Intelligence Response Team, belonged to a drug cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria illicit drug pipeline.
“With the intelligence at our disposal, the Agency believes strongly that DCP Kyari is a member of a drug cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria illicit drug pipeline, and he needs to answer questions that crop up in an ongoing drug case in which he is the principal actor. His failure to cooperate forced the hand of the Agency and that is the reason for this press briefing,” Babfemi told journalists.
“Kyari initiated a call to one of the NDLEA officers in Abuja at 2:12 pm. When the officer returned the call two minutes later, Kyari informed him he was coming to see him, to discuss an operational matter after the Juma’at service.
“He proposed a drug deal whereby he and his team are to take 15kg of the cocaine and leave 10kg for the prosecution of the suspects arrested with the illicit drug in Enugu.
“In the meantime, the purloined cocaine will be replaced with a dummy worth 15kg. He asked the NDLEA officer to persuade men of the FCT Command to play along as well,” he narrated further.
He also stated that Kyari was invited by NDLEA for debriefing through two “legitimate and formal” channels but he refused to respond.
“Having failed to honour the official invitation, NDLEA has no option but to declare DCP Abba Kyari of the Nigerian Police wanted, right from this very moment.”
In a statement, the National Coordinator of HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group commended the anti-drug agency for taking the step. It also called on the Inspector-General of Police, Baba Usman, to stop shielding Kyari and immediately arrest him.
HURIWA recalled how Kyari was indicted in 2021 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States for his alleged role in a $1m scam allegedly perpetrated by alleged international Internet fraudster Ramon Abbas, aka, Hushpuppi and five others.
The statement reads partly, “Now that the NDLEA has declared Kyari wanted for drug trafficking offences in the face of glaring and incontrovertible evidence as stated by a statutory law enforcement institution, the IGP has no excuse but to immediately arrest the cop for prosecution by the NDLEA. Everything covered has been revealed on the rooftop, if the mind-boggling allegations of NDLEA are anything to go by. Truth is like light, any attempt to cover it always fail, if all things being equal and if the prima face evidential allegations of NDLEA is factually accurate.
“The Police Service Commission must also immediately dismiss Kyari from the engagement of the Nigeria Police Service.
By Oluwatobi Odeyinka