By Stephen Azubuike
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States recently dropped a bombshell as they made frightening revelations which sought to connect Nigeria’s Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, with criminal conspiracy associated with internet fraudster, Ramon Abbas (Hushpuppi) and his gang.
The FBI’s revelations were as contained in an affidavit presented before the United States District Court by FBI, Special Agent, Andrew John Innocenti.
We are all familiar with the story of Hushpuppi and how he has already pleaded guilty to some of the charges leveled against him in the US. We are also familiar with Nigeria’s celebrity supercop, Abba Kyari, who leads the Inspector General of Police’s Intelligence Response Team (IGP-IRT) in the Nigerian Police Force.
However, what has left everyone astonished is FBI’s story on how Kyari and Hushpuppi were allegedly entangled in a boy/boss relationship. Kyari and Hushpuppi appeared to be rotating roles; at some point, you can hardly tell who the boss was or who was the “boy”. But the most damning revelation relates to how Kyari allegedly used his office to advance the interest of Hushpuppi by arresting Hushpuppi’s gang member, Vincent Chibuzo, who was said to have attempted to divert Hushpuppi’s “job” (fraud victim). In the Affidavit, the FBI explained that Kyari allegedly received the information, understood it, asked no further questions, and swung into action by arresting the said Chibuzo to the pleasure of Hushpuppi. An average Nigerian familiar with some of the atrocities of many bad eggs in the Nigeria Police Force would have no difficulty understanding that it’s quite easy to use the Police to achieve any unholy objective once you pay the price.
In a swfit reaction, Abba Kyari dismissed the weighty allegations with a wave of narrative that appears to ridicule the intelligence of even an idiot. Below is the summary of Kyari’s response found under his verified Facebook profile –
1. Hushpuppi called Kyari’s office 2 years ago.
2. The call was to lodge a complaint regarding an alleged threat by someone to kill Hushpuppi’s family.
3. Kyari and his team traced and arrested the suspect and after investigations, they realized the allegation of threat to life was false.
4. The true story Kyari found was that Hushpuppi and the “suspect” were simply having money issues. The suspect was granted bail.
5. Nobody demanded or received Kobo from Hushpuppi. (But even the dead in Nigeria knows that if you don’t pay the Police, absolutely nothing will be done concerning your complaint or case).
6. Kyari stated that after realizing that Hushpuppi raised a false alarm, he still connected Hushpuppi LATER or thereafter to a cloth merchant for Native Clothes & Caps and used his office to help Hushpuppi take delivery of the clothes.
7. Kyari claims his hands are clean.
8. He considers the indictment of the FBI as fake, false and the documents presented as doctored. He hurriedly maintains there’s no evidence against him.
Kyari appears to have introduced another idiom to replace the famous one known as “Cock and Bull story”. It seams we now have “Agbada (Native Clothes) and Caps story” to depict a piece of unbelievable and implausible narrative.
Anybody familiar with criminal investigation knows that Abba Kyari has lots of questions to answer in order to clear himself. At least, Kyari has confirmed he was in contact with Hushpuppi and that he arrested a suspect on the instigation of Hushpuppi. Kyari confirms he found Hushpuppi and the suspect were having money issues. These are just tiny strings that already show some connection with the revelations of the US FBI. The US FBI is not David Hundeyin or Fisayo Soyombo, Nigeria’s respected investigative Journalists, whom Nigerian Forces disrespect at will.
The Nigeria Police Force collaborates with the US FBI in combating crimes especially crimes of international dimensions. Instead of using Facebook to deny the allegations, Kyari should approach the FBI without any delay to clear his name and preserve the integrity of his office and that of the Nigeria Police Force. Ultimately, Kyari needs to preserve the integrity of President Buhari and that of Nigeria as a whole.
The material aspects of the FBI’s indictment contained in the Affidavit needs to be properly addressed. It is dishonourable to proceed in the ridiculous fashion that Kyari adopted using his Facebook account. Thankfully, the Nigeria Police Force has issued a statement indicating that they are on top of the situation. The Police should not waste much time and resources. The most decent thing to do is to use presidential jet to move Kyari to the US. Respect for his fundamental rights is guaranteed. Nobody will torture him to obtain confession. He will have access to legal representation of his choice. All he will be required to do is to answer questions. He will have the opportunity to see Hushpuppi and confirm if he loved the Natives (Agbada) and Caps made for him.
If President Buhari fails to hand over Kyari to the FBI for interrogation, Nigeria will become an international emblem of disgrace!
This article was first published on July 30, 2021 by https://stephenlegal.ng/us-indictment-ways-abba-kyari-confirms-he-has-plenty-questions-to-answer/
AUTHOR: STEPHEN AZUBUIKE is lawyer with expertise in Commercial Dispute Resolution and Technology Law practice. He is a Partner at Infusion Lawyers. He has successfully argued cases from the High Courts of various jurisdictions to the Appellate Courts on behalf of financial institutions, other corporate bodies and multinationals. He has worked with a number of startup tech companies. He tweets @siazubuike.
