The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has declared the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, wanted over his alleged involvement in a cocaine deal.
A statement signed by the Head of Media and Publicity of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, in Abuja on Monday, revealed that the already suspended DCP cornered 25 kilogrammes of cocaine seized by his team.
He was said to contact an officer of the agency about the deal, which he promised to give 10 kilogrammes of the drugs to be sold and shared with other operatives of the agency.
The NDLEA officer then informed the office and was told to play along with Kyari in the deal so as to get proof of the illicit deal.
Video clips of Kyari’s discussions and where he delivered the money from the sales of the drug to the NDLEA officer was played to newsmen at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
The NDLEA revealed that the agency was forced to declare Kyari wanted after “all efforts to get him to honour formal invitations for his interrogation failed.”
Babalola noted that the NDLEA “believes strongly that DCP Kyari is a member of a drug cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria illicit drug pipeline.”
Kyari was also accused of attempting to bribe an NDLEA team “(that is the officer and the FCT commander) by selling, on their behalf… he would be delivering $61, 400 to the NDLEA team.”
The NDLEA officer who had played along with the consent of the agency was said to have aided the NDLEA in gathering video evidence against Kyari.
“He also brought with him the money from the sale of the 5kg share of the NDLEA team, a total of $61, 400. Our officer, however, preferred to take the money inside his car. Well, the car was wired with sound and video recorders.”
Kyari who has since failed to honour the agency’s formal invitation “needs to answer questions that crop up in an ongoing drug case in which he is the principal,” it added.
The NDLEA “bemoaned a situation where those who are supposed to support current efforts to stem the tide of illicit drug trafficking and abuse are themselves neck-deep in the menace.”
WuzupNigeria recalled that Kyari was suspended on July 31 by the Police Service Commission based on the recommendation of the IGP after he was indicted by the United States authorities over his alleged involvement with a notorious fraudster, Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a document by the United States District Court for the Central District of California and dated February 12, 2021, alleged that Kyari received N8m or $20,600 from Hushpuppi who was arrested for defrauding a Qatari businessperson of $1.1 million.
Kyari was subsequently stripped of his role as head of the Police Intelligence Response Team by the Police Service Commission.
This publication also reported that the Police Service Commission has directed the Force headquarters to constitute another panel of inquiry to investigate Kyari.
