I shall be presenting an analysis of the legal predicament of DCP Abba Kyari. I intend to demonstrate that the crimes of Abba Kyari are actually the crimes of the Nigerian police as a whole. You must understand that it would have been impossible for Abba Kyari to rise so rapidly through the ranks despite the absence of any remarkable education or credentials unless he truly represented what the Nigerian police stood for. It would have been impossible for Abba Kyari to hold many sensitive and vital positions in the Nigerian police if he did not enjoy the blessings and active endorsement of his seniors. Abba Kyari headed SARS in Lagos, where it was known that thousands of suspects were tortured, executed, disappeared, or framed up for offenses they did not commit. It is impossible for the senior police officers not to have been aware of the bloody record of Abba Kyari as the head of SARS, Lagos. And to reward him, he was promoted to head the contrivance known ironically as the Intelligence Response Team (IRT). And naturally, IRT under Abba Kyari became the biggest killing machine in the Nigerian police force, far exceeding the record of atrocities for which SARS was unequaled.
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Indeed, as a matter of commonsense, whatever Abba Kyari is accused of doing now is simply the basic modus operandi of the Nigerian police. If Kyari was perceived by the police to have done anything wrong, he would not have become their best officer. And whatever the police may do today, make no mistake, Abby Kyari was the best of the Nigerian police by their horrible standards. And never you forget that the Nigerian police never caught Abba Kyari. In their book, he is a good man and the good officer. Abba Kyari got into trouble by the FBI standards, not by the standard of the Nigerian police. He again got into trouble by the standard of the NDLEA, not by the standard of the Nigeria police. And in each case, the Nigerian police tended to shield him. It took an open battle between the NDLEA and the police for Abba Kyari to be arrested for dealing in narcotics with chilling evidence against him. What does that tell you?
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The Nigerian police, as a matter of common practice, will take money from a rich person and arrest and detain anyone the rich person wanted detained. That was exactly what Abba Kyari did for Hushpuppi. Also, maybe unknown to the average Nigerian, the desire of the rich person may be the death of his opponent. If he paid the police, the police would kill the person wanted dead. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that if Abba Kyari could detain a person just because of 8 million Naira, he would kill a person for 16 million naira, and he must have done that again and again. He got caught. While on suspension awaiting extradition request, the police allowed him to retain command position in the same IRT he was supposedly suspended from. He was seen mingling with the top officers in the force, while on suspension. Indeed, he was untouchable. The reason is because, as far as the Nigerian police were concerned, Abba Kyari had done no wrong. While on suspension, the same Abba Kyari had the temerity to play a coordinating role in an international drug cartel. And the Nigerian police had no problem with that.
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As horrible as the specific actions of Abba Kyari may be, Nigerians need to know that 90% of Nigerian police officers are like Abba Kyari. Their system endorses it. They are doing what Abba Kyari did, though they are not yet caught. That is how they live. As good as it may be that Abba Kyari is going down and traveling far to meet justice, the fact remains that nothing will change in the Nigerian police without a comprehensive reform of the force.
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I will shed more light on this subject when I post my analysis. Try to read it. It was not easy for me when in 2018 I was forced to publicly describe the Nigerian police force as the biggest crime gang in Nigeria. I would hate to say that about any police force in the world, how much more the police force of my own dear country. For the audacity to condemn the Nigerian police, I was framed up for murder and armed robbery and a judicial system that is so indulgent toward the Nigerian police remanded me in prison for two years. It is a shame, indeed, that the EndSARS riot proved me right two years later, and Abba Kyari cases have again proved me right four years later.
IRT Unit under Abba Kyari became the biggest killing machine in the Nigerian Police – Emeka Ugwuonye
