Pelumi Olajengbesi, an Abuja-based human rights lawyer, has urged the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, to immediately hand over the suspended Head of the Intelligence Response Team, DCP Abba Kyari, to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to prove his innocence.
Olajengbesi made this known in a statement on Monday hours after the NDLEA declared Kyari wanted over alleged drug links.
He said, “The IGP must immediately order the arrest of Abba Kyari and hand him over to the NDLEA at a public press conference if truly the police do not shield bad eggs.
“The IGP must prove that he is not backing Abba Kyari in his alleged atrocious crimes exposed in the public glare in the last one year.”
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, had chronicled how Kyari belonged to a drug cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria illicit drug pipeline.
The anti-drug agency said Kyari contacted one of its officers in Abuja and struck a deal to secure the release of a total of 25kg seized cocaine.
Babafemi said, “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.”
“He (Kyari) brought with him the money from the sale of the 5kg share of the NDLEA team, a total of $61, 400. Our officer, however, preferred to take the money inside his car. Well, the car was wired with sound and video recorders. And the moment was documented, part of which I will play for you at the end of this briefing.
“We have a trove of intelligence, hard facts, from chats to photos and video and a detailed transcript of the communication between him and the NDLEA officer,” NDLEA spokesperson said.
