Tag: Abba kyari

  • Court Dismisses Abba Kyari Application To Quash Charges

    Court Dismisses Abba Kyari Application To Quash Charges

    The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday dismissed an application by a suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, seeking to strike out charges against him.

    In his ruling, Justice Emeka Nwite Kyari dismissed the application on the ground that the court has the exclusive right and Jurisdiction to hear drug-related cases as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act.

    Section 251 of the constitution confers the court the powers to hear and determine the charge, Justice Nwite held.

    Kyari had told the court that the charges against him were premature, insisting that the NDLEA ought to have allowed police to exhaust its internal machinery before it instituted the action.

    He told the court that the Police had already commenced an investigation into allegations against him and issued an interim report.

    Kyari, maintained that he could only be charged in court upon the conclusion of the internal investigation by the police.

    He argued that the PSC has similar powers to investigate and discipline erring police officers in line with the Police Act & Regulations, the same way the National Judicial Council (NJC) disciplines judicial officers.

    But the judge stated that the powers of the Police Service Commission do not supersede the powers of the Federal High Court

    Kyari, who is a former head of the Intelligence Response Team of the Nigeria Police Force is facing prosecution by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

    He and four members of the IRT – ACP Sunday J. Ubua, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirgba and Inspector John Nuhu were charged before a Federal High Court in Abuja with conspiracy to deal in 17.55kg of cocaine.

    They were also charged with dealing in cocaine without lawful authority; conspiracy to tamper with cocaine and unlawfully tampering with the 21.35kg of cocaine seized from two convicted drug dealers.

    Details shortly…

  • Appeal Court rejects Abba Kyari’s request for bail

    Appeal Court rejects Abba Kyari’s request for bail

    The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal by suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari.

    The appeal sought the reversal of an earlier ruling of a Federal High Court in Abuja which refused to grant his request for bail.

    Maintaining that Kyari’s appeal was without merit, Justice Stephen Adah who read the unanimous judgement of a three-man panel, held that given the nature of the charges pending against Kyari and others before the trial court, such requests for bail needed to be handled with caution.

    He held that Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, who earlier rejected bail to Kyari, appropriately exercised his discretion in refusing to grant Kyari’s bail.

    Kyari, who is a former head of the Intelligence Response Team of the Nigeria Police Force is facing prosecution by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

    He and four members of the IRT – ACP Sunday J. Ubua, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirgba and Inspector John Nuhu were charged before a Federal High Court in Abuja with conspiracy to deal in 17.55kg of cocaine.

    They were also charged with dealing in cocaine without lawful authority; conspiracy to tamper with cocaine and unlawfully tampering with the 21.35kg of cocaine seized from two convicted drug dealers.

  • Abba Kyari Offered me N10m and visa to implicate Saraki – Offa Robbery suspect

    Abba Kyari Offered me N10m and visa to implicate Saraki – Offa Robbery suspect

    One of the principal suspects in Offa robbery attack, Ayoade Akinninbosun has told a court that embattled former Head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) squad, Abba Kyari allegedly offered him N10 million to implicate ex-Senate President Bukola Saraki in the armed robbery case.

    At the resumed trial on Wednesday, January 18, at the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, Akinninbosun further alleged that Kyari promised to give him a visa to any country of his choice if he took the option to implicate Saraki but he turned down the offer.

    During cross-examination by the Defence Counsel, Mathias Emeribe (SAN), Akinninbosun said;

    “He said I should admit and say Saraki was the one who asked us to go and rob. I told him I won’t do that. That I will rather die for what I didn’t do than to lie against an innocent man.

    “He asked me to think over his offer very well. At this point he ordered officers Hassan and Moshood to return me to the cell. A separate one different from where others are and they should stop torturing me.”

    Akinninbosun said he was not allowed to write any statement in Ilorin except his bio-data, until they were conveyed to Abuja in a tinted bus, where he was later kept in a place called “abattoir”.

    The suspect maintained that Saraki had nothing to do with the robbery case. He added;

    “We were like 15 to 20 taken to Abuja, I only know a few of them. We were put outside and served meals, but I couldn’t eat because my hands were paralyzed due to the torture I went through in their hands in Ilorin. They asked Kunle Ogunleye to feed me.

    “They separated five of us, put us in the generator house and Officer Hassan Attila ordered they brought some men. They went to bring five Fulani men. They brought them and killed them all in my presence.

    “I was told that was not a film. He asked me to stretch my legs and shot my right leg. He shot the second leg but when I tried shifting the leg, it hit my tomb.”

    Akinninbosun went on to show the gunshot wound on his legs to the court. According to him, one of the robbery suspects, Micheal Adikwu, was shot dead in his presence, a situation that got him terrified and made him agree to implicate Saraki in a prepared statement before the press.

    The case has been adjourned till February 13, 2023.

  • Court Dismisses FG’s Application To Extradite Abba Kyari To US

    Court Dismisses FG’s Application To Extradite Abba Kyari To US

    Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit instituted by the Federal Government seeking to extradite the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police DCP, Abba Kyari to the United States of America.

    The judge, in a judgment on Monday, held that the extradition request filed by the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, on behalf of the Federal Government lacked merit and is liable to dismissal.

    The Federal Government filed the extradition charges against Kyari to pave way for his extradition to America to answer fraud allegations.

    Justice Ekwo, however, held that the Federal Government has no basis to file the extradition request having put Abba Kyari on trial in Nigeria in relation to the allegations against him in America.

    Details later.

  • Hushpuppi: Extradition Request by U.S. Govt not in Good Faith — Abba Kyari tells Court

    Hushpuppi: Extradition Request by U.S. Govt not in Good Faith — Abba Kyari tells Court

    The suspended DCP Abba Kyari has told a Federal High Court, Abuja that the extradition request by the U.S. Government for his trial in the alleged internet fraud committed by Ramon Abbas, aka Hushpuppi, was not done in good faith.

    Kyari, through his counsel, Nureni Jimoh, SAN, told Justice Inyang Ekwo, on Friday, while arguing his case on the incompetency of the suit brought against him by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).

    Kyari, who faulted the extradition process, said it lacked merit.

    At the resumed proceeding, Justice Ekwo reminded parties that the matter was fixed for today (Friday) for hearing.

    Shortly after the adoption of his applications, Nureni Jimoh, SAN, on behalf of Kyari, argued that the extradition process was incompetent and lacking in merit because the arrest warrant was not authenticated.

    “The warrant of arrest was not signed. It was only certified and certification is not authentication,” he said, citing Sections 6 and 17 of the Extradition Act.

    Jimoh stated that the three offences brought against his client were not within the provisions of the Extradition Act, urging the court to affirm that the application was incompetent.

    The senior lawyer argued that the allegation that Kyari had a link with Hushpuppi was untrue.

    He said the suspended police chief had earlier in two separate letters wrote to the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) and the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police, informing them that he had opened a channel of communication with Hushpuppi.

    He stated further that in the two letters tendered in court as exhibits, Kyari explained that the purpose was to give confidence to the suspected fraudster and lure him to come to Nigeria where an ambush was already laid for a sting operation by his own strike force.

    Jimoh argued that the said two letters, written in January and March 2020, were not controverted by the AGF.

    Reading from the counter affidavit deposed to by Mohammed Kyari, the respondent’s younger brother, in the open court, the lawyer said: “The respondent (Kyari) is a senior police officer in Nigeria carrying out sting investigation on Ramon Olorunwa Abbas or AbdulRahman Imraan Juma, otherwise known as Hushpuppi.

    “A copy of the letter written by the respondent to the Interpol on Jan. 28, 2020 and to the Inspector General of Police on March 3, 2020 in respect of the sting investigation been carried out by the respondent are herewith attached as Exhibit 1a & 1b respectively.

    “This was five months before the arrest of Ramon Abbas & others by the FBI.”

    He argued that the request for the extradition was not supported by any document or verifiable evidence.

    Besides, he said Kyari had received several international awards and honours, including in the U.S. where he received commendation award from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for rescuing Americans kidnapped in Nigeria, arresting the kidnappers and arrest of murderers of a serving American soldier killed in Imo.

    The lawyer described the move to extradite Kyari to the U.S. as “an international politics at play to interfere in Nigerian security system.

    “There is no good reason to warrant the extradition process.”

    He argued that the request was directed to undermine the crackdown on various crime gangs by Kyari in Nigeria and internationally, and had political undertone.

    Jimoh stated that his client was confronted with series of charges to break him down because of his achievements and various national honours, citing a copy of the charge alleged to have been framed against him by the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) attached as Exhibits 2.

    “The extradition request in fact is made for the purpose of persecuting and punishing the respondent on account of his race, nationality, and was not made in good faith nor in the interest of justice,” he said.

    But counsel for the AGF, Pius Akutah, disagreed with Jimoh, urging the court to discountenance his argument.

    He argued that the conditions precedent for extradition had been met by the American government with the filing of the charge against Kyari and a formal application that he be brought to establish his guilty or innocence in his indictment for internet fraud.

    He said what was before the court was for the AGF to show cause why Kyari should be extradited to the U.S., citing previous cases to back his argument.

    Akutah also urged the court to dismiss Kyari’s preliminary objection which asked the court to strike out the AGF’s application for failure to seek a leave of the court before filing it, citing a Supreme Court decision in a matter between Rasaki and another Vs. Ajijola and another.

    Justice Ekwo, who sought to deliver verdict on the suit during the court vacation, fixed Aug. 29 for the judgment after counsel for the two parties agreed to the proposal.

    “Vacation starts on July 18. If parties agreed, I can give judgement during vacation,” he said.

  • Abba Kyari: Court grants NDLEA approval to review facts

    Abba Kyari: Court grants NDLEA approval to review facts

    A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Thursday, granted the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s application to review facts of the two defendants who pleaded guilty in the ongoing trial of suspended DCP Abba Kyari and others over alleged cocaine deal.

    Delivering his ruling, in a ruling, Justice Emeka Nwite, dismissed the objection raised by the counsel for Kyari and other co-defendants that granting the request might jeopardise their case.

    The two defendants are Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, who are sixth and seventh defendants respectively in the matter.

    They are the two alleged drug traffickers arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, who pleaded guilty to five, six and seven counts preferred against them by the anti-narcotic agency.

    Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the NDLEA and counsel to Umeibe and Ezenwanne that the objectors had not given sufficient evidence why they would be prejudiced if the court granted the request.

    Justice Nwite aligned with the argument that keeping Umeibe and Ezenwanne in prison while the trial of others last was to infringe on their right to fair hearing going by Section 36(4) of 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    He held that the objection lacked merit, and ordered the NDLEA to commence the review of facts of the 6th and 7th defendants’ case.

    Nwite then adjourned the matter until May 26 for review of facts and hearing of the motion on notice.

    The NDLEA had, on March 7 arraigned Umeibe and Ezenwanne alongside Kyari, ACP Sunday Ubia, ASP Bawa James, Insp. Simon Agirigba and Insp. John Nuhu on eight counts.

    They were the suspended officers of the Intelligence Response Team Unit formerly led by Kyari.

    They had pleaded not guilty to all the counts leveled against them.

    Although Umeibe and Ezenwanne’s names were also mentioned in counts three and four where allegations bordering on conspiracy were leveled against Kyari and others, they were not ask to take a plea on these two counts

    However, shortly after the plea was taking, counsel for the NDLEA, Joseph Sunday, prayed the court to grant a leave to review the charges against Umeibe and Ezenwanne in order for the court to sentence them accordingly.

    But Kanu Agabi (SAN), had objected to the prosecuting lawyer’s request, arguing that should the court convict and impose a sentence on the duo, it would jeopardise Kyari’s and the other four defendants’ case.

    According to him, convicting and sentencing these two defendants who have pleaded guilty to the charge will be prejudicial to our clients case.

    He contended that Umeibe and Ezenwanne might have “pleaded guilty out of ignorance.”

    Besides, he said the fact that their names were also mentioned in counts three and four made the matter worse.

    He pleaded with the court to put the sentence and conviction of the two defendants on hold, pending the determination of the matter.

    After taking arguments from lawyers to the parties, Justice Nwite had adjourned the matter until Thursday for ruling.

  • NDLEA nabs suspected drug baron behind N3billion Tramadol linked to Abba Kyari’s team

    NDLEA nabs suspected drug baron behind N3billion Tramadol linked to Abba Kyari’s team

    The billionaire drug baron behind the N3billion Tramadol deal involving the embattled suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Abba Kyari-led Intelligence Response Team, IRT, Chief Afam Mallinson Emmanuel Ukatu has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

    After months of surveillance and evading arrest, Ukatu who is Chairman of Mallinson Group of Companies has eventually nabbed onboard a flight to Abuja at the MM2 terminal of the Lagos airport, Ikeja on Wednesday 13th April.

    Investigations reveal he’s been a major importer of large consignments of different brands and high dosages of Tramadol Hydrochloride, ranging from 120mg, 200mg, 225mg and 250mg, all of which are illicit.

    Ukatu owns pharmaceutical and plastic manufacturing companies, which he used as a cover to import illicit drugs into Nigeria.

    This is in addition to operating 103 bank accounts, most of which are used to launder money.

    Ukatu came under watch last year after five cartons of Tramadol 225mg were seized from his staff on 4th May 2021 when he sent them to sell to undercover police officers (unknown to Ukatu) from the then Kyari-led IRT of the Nigeria Police, Ikeja Lagos.

    The price of a carton of Tramadol was negotiated at N17million each as against the then black market value that ranged between N18million and N20million a carton in Lagos.

    After the arrest of Ukatu’s staff: Pius Enidom and Sunday Ibekwete, Kyari’s men were then led by the suspects to Mallinson’s warehouse at Ojota in Lagos where 197 additional Cartons of Tramadol 225mg were seized by the IRT Team.

    The monetary value of the 202 cartons of Tramadol seized from Mallinson in one day was over N3billion.

    Three weeks after the seizure, the Kyari’s IRT team transferred only 12 Cartons of the Tramadol with one truck and a suspect to the Lagos Command of the NDLEA, leaving 190 cartons unaccounted for.

    After over eight months of following the lead, anti-narcotic officers of the Agency eventually arrested Ukatu at the Lagos airport on 13th April 2022. Kyari and four top members of his team are already facing trial for a different but similar offence at a Federal High Court in Abuja.

  • Court Denies Abba Kyari Bail

    Court Denies Abba Kyari Bail

    Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has refused bail to the suspended deputy commissioner of police Abba Kyari.

    The court held that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has placed sufficient evidence before the court enough for it to refuse bail.

    The NDLEA in its counter-affidavits to Mr Kyari’s bail application held that it is inappropriate to grant bail to the applicant because of the facts and circumstances of the case.

    The affidavits read that:

    The applicant is already facing extradition on charges of wire fraud.

    The 2nd applicant, who is an Assistant Superintendent of Police, is under investigation for money laundering and may face charges on same.

    The applicant has had dealings with criminals in line of his duty and may be inclined to engage them in interfering with the evidence.

    The medical challenges of the applicant are not beyond the capacity of the NDLEA.

    The applicant is a flight risk and might jump bail.

    It is on these premises that the court refuse the bail application of the 1st and 2nd applicant.

  • Hushpuppi: Court Postpones Hearing on Abba Kyari’s Extradition to US

    Hushpuppi: Court Postpones Hearing on Abba Kyari’s Extradition to US

    The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, deferred hearing on the application seeking to extradite the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP, Abba Kyari to the United States of America, USA, to face trial over his alleged involvement with a notorious internet fraudster, Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi, till April 27.

    Kyari is wanted in the U.S. to stand trial for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft.

    A grand jury had on April 29, 2021, filed an indictment against him with the approval of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, after which a warrant was issued for his arrest.

    The application for his extradition was brought before the court by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN.

    Malami said the extradition application was based on a request by the Diplomatic Representative of the U.S. Embassy in Abuja for Kyari to be surrendered for trial.

    The AGF, in an affidavit that was filed in support of the extradition application, said he was satisfied that the offence in respect of which Kyari’s surrender was sought, is not political or trivial.

    He said he was also satisfied that the request for Kyari to be surrendered, was not made to persecute or punish him on account of his race, religion, nationality or political opinions, but in good faith and the interest of justice.

    According to him, Kyari, “if surrendered, will not be prejudiced at his trial and will not be punished, detained or restricted in his personal liberty, by reason of his race, nationality or political opinions”, adding that having regard to all the circumstances in which the alleged offence was committed, it would not be unjust or oppressive, or severe a punishment, to surrender him.

    Malami, noted that there was no criminal proceeding pending against Kyari in Nigeria, bordering on the same offence for which he is wanted in the USA.

    Meanwhile, when the matter was called up on Wednesday, Kyari’s lawyer, Mr. Nureni Jimoh, SAN, told the court that his client was yet to be served with any of the processes the AGF filed against him.

    Nureni said there was no way his client would have been able to respond to the extradition request, since he was not served.

    Responding, counsel to the AGF, Mr. Pius Akutah, admitted that the Respondent was yet to be served with processes in the application marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/249/2022.

    He said the inability of the office of the AGF to serve the Respondent was due to the drug trafficking charge the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, also entered against Kyari, before the court.

    Akutah, argued that he has 14 days within which he could still effect the service in accordance with the law.

    While adjourning the case, Justice Inyang Ekwo ordered the Applicant (AGF) to ensure that DCP Kyari was served before the next date.

    The court held that upon service of the processes, Kyari, would be at liberty to file his response within 14 days.

    It further gave an extra seven days for the parties to perfect the filing processes.

    Kyari, who hitherto headed the Police Intelligence Response Team, IRT, is currently answering to an eight-count charge the NDLEA preferred against him a six others.

    The other Defendants in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/57/2022, are four former members of the Police IRT, ACP Sunday J. Ubia, ASP Bawa James, Insp. Simon Agirigba and Insp. John Nuhu, as well as two drug traffickers that were arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne.

    It will be recalled that Umeibe and Ezenwanne, who were cited as the 6th and 7th Defendants in the charge, had on March 7, when they were arraigned alongside DCP Kyari, pleaded guilty to the drug trafficking charge against them.

    Following an application by the NDLEA, trial Justice Emeka Nwite, slated March 28 to review the facts of the case so as to sentence the two Defendants (Umuibe and Ezenwanne), accordingly.

  • Abba Kyari’s Wife Slumps In Court

    Abba Kyari’s Wife Slumps In Court

    Ramatu Kyari, wife of the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, on Monday, fainted and slumped at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

    She slumped shortly after the trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, deferred the ruling on applications that DCP Kyari and six other persons facing drug trafficking charge with him, filed to be released on bail pending the determination of the case against them.

    Ramatu, who wore a black hijab, fell on the floor while armed operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) were leading Kyari and the others away from the court premises.

    The middle-aged woman was quickly carried and rushed inside one of the offices on the third floor of the court by some officials of the NDLEA and lawyers.

    One of the women in her company hinted to Channels Television that she was asthmatic.

    The NDLEA had on Monday, urged the court to deny Kyari and all the other defendants bail.

    The agency told the court that Kyari, who hitherto headed the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) would escape from the country and make himself unavailable for trial, should he be released from custody.

    The judge then adjourned the case for further hearing.

    Earlier, the two co-defendants of the Abba Kyari, pleaded guilty to parts of the drug trafficking charges brought against them.

    The defendants, Chibuinna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, made their plea on Monday at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

    Both men, who were the only civilians arraigned in connection with Kyari’s cocaine saga, were ordered to be remanded in the custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) till Monday when the application for their bail would be heard.