Abba Kyari, suspended deputy commissioner of police (DCP), says he did not operate a killer squad.
Kyari spoke through his lawyer, Suleiman Mohammed.
Kyari was suspended following allegations that he had links to Ramon Abbas, an internet celebrity better known as Hushpuppi. Until his suspension, the suspended DCP was the head of the intelligence response team (IRT) of the police force.
Reacting to reports that quoted Hushpuppi as saying that the suspended DCP will go after his life because he indicted him in his fraud case, Mohammed said Kyari has never been involved in a crime with Hushpuppi.
“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,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
“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.”
The lawyer said the IRT subsequently embarked on 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.”
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