Abba Kyari: FBI, Nigeria Police Not Fair to Ex-IRT Boss, Says Northern Group
- The Coalition of Northern Groups have declared support for the embattled police officer, DCP Abba Kyari
- According to the northern groups, the Borno-born police officer is being treated unfairly by the FBI and the Nigeria Police Force
- The groups called on all human rights lawyers from northern Nigeria to team up to support Kyari and prevent him from being extradited
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Kaduna - The Coalition of Northern Groups has alleged that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) have outrightly breached Abba Kyari’s fundamental right to a fair hearing.
According to the group, Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), was not given the benefit of being heard before hasty actions were taken against him by both the FBI and the NPF.
Source: Facebook
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Group wants Abba Kyari's case transferred to NIA
They, therefore, demanded that the suspension of Kyari be immediately reviewed and his case transferred to the Nigeria Intelligence Agency.
The demand was contained in a communique read to journalists at the end of the group’s roundtable meeting in Kaduna.
Part of the communique seen by Legit.ng read:
“The roundtable specifically noted several procedural lapses bordering on breaches of international protocol in the supposed FBI attempt to wrap DCP Kyari in the Hushpuppi affair, as well as the obvious haste by the Nigeria police authorities to strip him of his position with an immediate replacement.
“That the FBI, an acclaimed American security agency, might invariably have breached the global standard legal and diplomatic practice by neglecting to contact either the Nigerian High Commission in the US or the Nigerian authorities through the FBI liaison offices based in Nigeria before going ahead to file an indictment of a top Nigerian security officer.
“That the FBI might have breached another fundamental criminal justice procedure by not according Mr. Kyari the benefit of being heard before going ahead with the purported indictment by an American court in the US for an offence purportedly committed in Nigeria, triable under Nigerian laws, by Nigerian courts and on Nigerian land.
“A breach of decorum and negligence of procedure might have also occurred when the FBI hurriedly published the purported indictment online without first intimating the Nigerian authorities.”
The group insisted on the non-repatriation of Kyari for trial in America, stressing that his case is adequately covered by Nigerian laws and competently triable by Nigerian courts.
The coalition called on all human rights lawyers and civil liberties organizations in northern Nigeria to rise in defence of Kyari.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has said the honour bestowed on Kyari may be withdrawn only if he is found guilty.
The spokesman of the House, Benjamin Kalu, says the police officer is innocent until proven guilty by the US authorities.
The US authorities through the FBI had indicted the Borno-born police officer for fraud recently.
Abba Kyari's controversial Facebook post
Legit.ng had earlier reported that Kyari deleted a social media post where he defended himself against the FBI that he got money from money laundering suspect, Abass Ramon, aka Hushpuppi.
After media reports quoting FBI documents reported that Kyari was mentioned by Hushpuppi, the police officer took to his Facebook page to deny the allegations.
He has since deleted the Facebook post on his page with almost 5000,000 followers.
Source: Legit.ng
