Abba Kyari: Nigerian ‘super cop’ arrested in drug cartel case

Abba Kyari, a highly decorated police officer in Nigeria has been arrested following accusations he belongs to an international drugs cartel, police say.  The embattled cop was reportedly arrested alongside four other persons.

Abba Kyari and his team were declared wanted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Monday.

The agency, at a press briefing in Abuja by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said on Monday Mr Kyari was wanted for aiding and abetting drug pushing and running his own international cartel.

According to him, Mr Kyari is a member of a drug cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria illicit drug pipeline.

Police spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed on Monday that Mr Kyari was arrested alongside four other persons.

“The saga started on Friday, January 21, 2022, when DCP Kyari initiated a call to one of the NDLEA officers in Abuja at 2:12 pm. When the officer returned the call two minutes later, Kyari informed him he was coming to see him, to discuss an operational matter after the Juma’at service,” Mr Babafemi recounted. He appeared at the agreed venue of the meeting with the officer and went straight to the crux of the matter.

“His team had intercepted and arrested some traffickers that came into the country from Ethiopia with, according to him, 25kg of cocaine. He proposed a drug deal whereby he and his team are to take 15kg of the cocaine and leave 10kg for the prosecution of the suspects arrested with the illicit drug in Enugu. The purloined cocaine will be replaced with a dummy worth 15kg. He asked the NDLEA officer to persuade men of the FCT Command to play along as well.”

“On Monday, January 24, after the Agency gave the officer the green light to play along, he and Kyari began a WhatsApp call for the rest of the day. The officer conveyed “their” willingness to play the game.

“At this point, Kyari disclosed that the 15kg (already taken out) was shared between the informants that provided information for the seizure and he and his men of the IRT of the Nigerian Police.”

The declaration by the NDLEA comes a few months after the former police intelligence unit commander was indicted in an internet fraud case by a U.S. court.

The court had declared Mr Kyari wanted to answer allegations of complicity in the $1.1 million bribe fraud perpetrated by a popular fraudster, Ramon Abbas aka Hushpuppi.

This led to his suspension by the Police Service Commission (PSC) from office as a deputy commissioner of police and head of the IRT.