The action by the IGP must have been informed by the serial indictments of some members of the Intelligence Response Teams and Special Squads on corrupt practices and other acts of malfeasance.
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, has ordered the closure of all satellite units of the Intelligence Response Team and Special Tactical Squad across the country.
This comes a day after the arrest of the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari, and others by authorities of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over alleged drug dealings.
The action by the IGP must have been informed by the serial indictments of some members of the special squads on corrupt practices and other acts of malfeasance.
In one of those embarrassing developments, Kyari was on Monday, February 14, handed over to the NDLEA by the Police, few hours after he was declared wanted by the anti-narcotic agency.
Other suspects declared wanted with Kyari, were also turned in to NDLEA. They were; ACP Sunday J. Ubua; ASP Bawa James; Inspector Simon Agirgba and Inspector John Nuhu.
Our reporter gathered that they were driven into the National Headquarters of NDLEA in Abuja at about 5pm by the police to formally hand them over for interrogation and further investigation.
Confirming the development, Director, Media & Advocacy of the agency, Femi Babafemi assured that no stone would be left unturned to ensure that all suspects already in custody and those that may still be indicted in the course of investigation will face the full weight of the law at the end of the ongoing probe.
Kyari, the suspended head of the Intelligence Response Team and members of his gang had earlier been arrested by the Nigerian police.
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Police arrest Abba Kyari 9 months after first indictment
Abba Kyari was caught in a video offering $61,400 (N35m) in bribe to an NDLEA agent to further his criminal activities.
He had before now, been linked to all kinds of crime – murder, fraud and now cocaine trafficking. For many, he symbolizes the character of the Nigerian government
The Nigerian government has been reluctant in arresting Abba Kyari nor having him extradited to the United States after the Federal Bureau of Investigation linked him with Ramon Abbass, a self-confessed internet fraudster.
The Police later set up a panel that literally cleared Abba Kyari of any wrongdoing. But the Police Service Commission rejected the report and ordered another probe until the NDLEA came with full proof evidence against Kyari for a worse crime.
The NDLEA released a video of 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.
In the NDLEA statement, it appears that Abba Kyari, who is supposed to be under suspension for having ties with confessed internet fraudster, Ramon Abba, popularly known as Hushpuppi, was still active with the operations of IRT.
According to the statement, an IRT team intercepted 25kg of cocaine en route 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.
According to Abba Kyari, a kg of cocaine sells for N7million, which means the 20kg would go for N140 million. Abba Kyari then offered the narcotic agent N35 million to aid the fraud.
Until his arrest, Abba Kyari went into hiding where he had been issuing threats to the narcotic agent who got him busted, until
