Abba Kyari has been linked to all kinds of crime – murder, fraud and now cocaine trafficking. For many, he symbolizes the character of the Nigerian government
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has released a video of suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, doling out $61,400 (N35m) in bribe to a narcotic agent. The bribe was to under-declare a seized cocaine that Abba Kyari claimed his team of Intelligence Response Team (IRT) intercepted from cocaine couriers.
Abba Kyari is supposed to be under suspension for having ties with confessed internet fraudster, Ramon Abba, popularly known as Hushpuppi. But he appears active using his team at IRT to further his criminal activities.
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According to the NDLEA, Kyari’s team of IRT intercepted 25kg of cocaine en route to Nigeria from Ethiopia. Abba Kyari then proposed a deal to a narcotic agent that he would replace 20 kilograms of the cocaine with a dummy, while the remaining 5kg would be used for prosecution of the suspects.
A statement by NDLEA quoted Abba Kyari as giving the price of a kg of cocaine as an N7million, which means the 20kg would go for N140 million. Abba Kyari then offered the narcotic agent N35 million to aid the fraud.
Abba Kyari has since gone into hiding, according to the NDLEA, and has been issuing threats to the narcotic agent who got him busted.
The cocaine trade has been a major source of wealth to many Nigerian politicians, businessmen and security agents who often act as foot soldiers to drug lords.
In 2010, a former director-general of the NDLEA, Femi Ajayi, was asked by Newswatch why only small fries get caught and prosecuted for drug trafficking and not the Drug Lords.
He responded that in the trafficking business, the couriers do not always know the Drug Lords. He said the Drug Lords have a number of intermediaries between them and the couriers. He explained that when a courier is caught, an intermediary is often eliminated as a way of severing the link between the couriers and the Lords.
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