An apparently furious Police Service Commission (PSC) on Friday ordered a fresh investigation into the allegations of fraud leveled against the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, who was the officer in charge of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
The commission also ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to constitute a new panel to undertake the probe and submit the report in two weeks.
Kyari was indicted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States for alleged involvement with an internet fraudster, Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, popularly known as Hussipuppi.
A statement by the commission yesterday said it deferred decision on the case involving Kyari, pending the new probe.
The statement signed by the Spokesman of the Commission, Ikechukwu Ani, said the commission also directed that “further necessary investigation should take half the time it took the police to conduct the original investigation and that the investigation should be carried out by a different panel.”
The commission took the decision at the continuation of its14th Plenary Meeting which ended in Abuja on Thursday, February 11, 2022, and chaired by Alhaji Musiliu Smith, a retired Inspector General of Police.
After Kyari’s indictment by the FBI, he was also investigated by a special panel set up by the Inspector-General of Police.
The report was forwarded to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice for legal advice by the Inspector-General of Police.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), said Monday that the federal government may consider the request to extradite Kyari to the United States to face trial over his alleged involvement with Hussipuppi.
Malami, who spoke in a media interview, stated that “reasonable ground for suspicion” was established against DCP Kyari in the report of the police panel that investigated corruption allegations leveled against him by the FBI.
Noting that the case had both national and international dimensions, Malami said the government would not rule out the possibility of Kyari’s extradition to the US or his prosecution in Nigeria.
A US District Court had, following an FBI investigation, indicted Kyari and six others.
The six defendants, including Kyari, indicted in the case were alleged co-conspirators in the $1.1million fraud coordinated by a Hushpuppi, the FBI said in court documents released last July.
A Qatari businessman was said to be one of the victims of the heist spearheaded by Hushpuppi between November 2019 and April 2020.
Hushpuppi, known for flaunting his wealth on his Instagram, had pleaded guilty to various fraud activities including the $1.1million scheme in another case before the U.S. District Court in California.
Kyari, allegedly played a role in the $1.1million scam by helping Hushpuppi to detain a disenchanted co-conspirator, who wanted to warn the businessman about the scam.
Meanwhile, the PSC statement said the plenary meeting also considered 20 pending disciplinary matters and five appeals and petitions from the IG and aggrieved serving and ex-police officers.
The commission reaffirmed its earlier decision to exonerate SP Shaaba Adamu Gboyako a former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to former Inspector-General of Police taken at its I9th Plenary Meeting of 28th and 29th September 2020.
It said the commission was mindful of the need to safeguard its corporate image and defend its institutional integrity and directed the Inspector-General of Police to implement its decision as its affects the officer without delay.
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