Ahmad Isah, human rights activist and broadcast journalist, says Abba Kyari, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), should not go down for one mistake even if the allegation against him is true.
Isah said Kyari has done so much good to go down for a mistake.
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The embattled DCP is on suspension and under probe for his alleged relationship with Ramon Abbas, self-confessed international fraudster better known as Hushpuppi.
Hushpuppi had alleged that he bribed Kyari to arrest and jail “one of his rivals in Nigeria after a dispute over a $1.1 million scam on Qatari business people”.
But Kyari, whom the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has put an extradition request for, denied any wrongdoing. He said he never collected money from Hushpuppi.
Speaking on his breakfast radio/television programme on 101.1 FM in Abuja on Tuesday, Isah said the US is wrong to ask for the extradition of Kyari.
“This thing wey Abba Kyari enter, many police officers dey celebrate, ineffective police officers. Some of them are gossip machines, some wey be wives, na men dem be, but dem be wives to their ogas,” the broadcaster said in Pidgin English.
“They are celebrating, they are quick to celebrate but let me tell you, whether you care to listen or not Abba Kyari is not going down by the grace of God. He has done too [much] good to go down because of one mistake, even if it is true.”
“America cannot tell us how to live our lives, America is not heaven. We have homeless people in America, we have jobless people in America, we have Indian hemp smokers in America, we have cocaine smokers in America, we have armed robbers in America, we have serial killers in America, what are they going to tell us, is America better than Africa if not for bad leadership?
“What do they have that we don’t have? We stand behind Abba Kyari, DCP Abba Kyari and God will vindicate him.
“One day this young man will become IGP, they are just envious of him because of his extraordinary performance, they can’t do half of what he is doing. He is too intelligent for their liking. He is a civil police officer, he is not pompous.”
Isah admitted that Kyari could have been tempted to do wrong while holding office as head of Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
“Yes, there is an allegation on him, no matter how bad e be, name wey you give you dog naim neighbours go call am. How many of Abba Kyari we get for Nigeria in the police. For you to hold that type of office, temptation abounds,” he said.
“Una know how many cases this man don uncover? Some police officers dey wonder how hin dey do am. Some say na juju, some say na magic. He is a modern police [officer], he is using technology.
“If they had arrested Abba Kyari in America, that is a different thing, you are telling us to send our own?”
