Against the backdrop of accusations by disgraced internet fraudster, Ramon Abbas aka Hushpuppi, that embattled DCP Abba Kyari operates a “death squad”, the erstwhile super cop‘s lawyer, Suleiman Mohammed, has issued a rebuttal.
Kyari, who is presently being prosecuted on drug-related charges, was suspended by the police over his alleged ties with Hushpuppi.
Online newspaper, Peoples Gazette reported on Thursday that Hushpuppi told an American court that he would not like to be returned to Nigeria after his prison term so as not to be a victim of Kyari’s “death squad”.
In a memorandum he submitted before Judge Otis Wright of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the convicted internet fraudster said that for his role in Kyari’s travails, the police officer would be seeking to harm him.
“Once this case is resolved and Mr. Abbas is released, that he will not be able to return to Nigeria.
“Abubakar Kiyari, a Nigerian politician and police commissioner, operates a death squad. Kiyari was indicted in the Juma case by the government’s investigation into this case.
“Mr. Abbas hopes to move his family out of Nigeria when he gets out of prison. The looming threat of Mr. Kiyari’s supporters, as well as intense media harassment, has forced his family to continue moving to secret locations within Nigeria.
“They must rent different apartments simultaneously while continuously changing telephone lines. Additionally, his children face the possibility of going through their formative years without their father,” the convict’s lawyer, Louis Shapiro, said in the filing seeking reduced sentence for his client.
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However, Kyari’s lawyer debunked the allegation against his client.
“This official response is for the purpose of clearing the air for people who may think Kyari’s silence is a confirmation of the malicious lie.
“To start with, how come the death squad is not known to the world or anybody until a purported plea bargain papers of a criminal desperately seeking for soft landing came up? Is such a type of person or his statements while seeking a mitigated sentence in a plea bargain something to believe?
“Hushpuppi brought himself to meet Kyari through one Yomi when Kyari visited Dubai with his family in September 2019. That was the first and last time Kyari physically met Hushpuppi.
“Huspuppi called Kyari for assistance, specifically to arrest one Vincent, whom he claimed threatened to kill his mother.
“Vincent was indeed arrested as a preemptive measure but was later released upon findings by the police that there was disagreement in the sharing formula from their Internet fraud partnership.
“Vincent’s arrest was not done in secret. His detention was with a valid court order for proper investigation for the several internet frauds he confessed to have committed with Hushpuppi and many other fraudsters in Malaysia, South Africa, Cyprus and Kenya.
“He was legally granted bail to a surety for the fact that the alleged offences were bailable, more so in recognition of his deteriorating health status that time,” Mohammed said.
He said that the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) under Kyari launched a sting operation to arrest Hushpuppi.
“Kyari has done thousands of cases for Nigerians both rich and poor including the richest persons in the country and never demanded for one kobo for mobilisation from anybody despite the fact that there was very little government funding for his department which covered less than 10 percent of what was needed,” he said.
“Despite this, Kyari did all the cases diligently with full commitment and dogged efforts that yielded positive outcomes more than 95 percent of the time,” Mohammed said.