Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has urged Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to follow and process the extradition request on Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari to the United States of America.
Falana stated this while reacting to the indictment levelled against the suspended Head of Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Kyari by the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation.
WITHIN NIGERIA had reported that the United States Department of Justice had said ongoing investigations showed that Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi allegedly bribed Kyari to arrest one Kelly Chibuzo Vincent, one of his accomplices in Nigeria.
According to a court document released by the United States Department of Justice on Wednesday, titled: ‘Six Indicted in International Scheme to Defraud Qatari School Founder and then Launder over $1 Million in Illicit Proceeds’, Kyari was said to have been bribed to arrest one Kelly Chibuzor Vincent, 40, in Nigeria, who created bogus documents and arranged for the creation of a fake bank website and phone banking line to support the defrauding of a business person trying to provide $1.1m for the funding of a school in Qatar.
Speaking during a telephone interview with AIT on Tuesday, August 3, Falana stated that Kyari is the product of a failed system.
According to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the level of social and political decay in the country is made evident in the allegation against Kyari.
“To put an end and close this ugly chapter, the investigation must go beyond the indictment by the FBI, the matter must be investigated locally, and Kyari shall not just be handed to America, we operate under the rule of law whether the government likes it or not, there is an extradition act in place which requires that countries like the United States of America with which Nigeria has entered into treaties, so there are procedures to be followed if you want a criminal suspect either here or in America to face court trial.
“Kyari is just the product of a failed system. In the case of Nigeria-America, a treaty was entered in 1935 under the British colonial regime, but between then and now, dozens of citizens have been extradited from Nigeria, some were adopted and thrown to the United States, but not a single suspect [that is an] American citizen has been brought for trial in Nigeria” he said.
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