Detained Deputy Commissioner of Police and suspended Intelligence Response Team (IRT) Commander, Abba Kyari (DCP), is currently undergoing interrogation by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over his involvement in the Brazil-Ethiopia- Nigeria drugs ring and deal to compromise 25 kilograms of Cocaine in the custody of NDLEA.
Kyari was arrested on Monday by the police after he was declared wanted by the NDLEA over the alleged drug deal.
His interrogation according to competent sources at the NDLEA, the grilling exercise which is in line with lawful practices will last till Wednesday.
The agency has equally extended its investigation to indicted officials allegedly linked to the bust drug deal as requested by the Inspector General of Police, Akali Baba.
The agency said it believes strongly that DCP Kyari is a member of a drug cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria illicit drug pipeline, and he needs to answer questions that crop up in an ongoing drug case in which he is the principal actor.
The saga started on Friday, January 21, 2022, when DCP Kyari initiated a call to one of the NDLEA officers in Abuja at 2:12 pm. When the officer returned the call two minutes later, Kyari informed him he was coming to see him, to discuss an operational matter after the Juma’at service.
He appeared at the agreed venue of the meeting with the officer and went straight to the crux of the matter. This was it: His team had intercepted and arrested some traffickers that came into the country from Ethiopia with, according to him, 25kg of cocaine. He proposed a drug deal whereby he and his team are to take 15kg of the cocaine and leave 10kg for the prosecution of the suspects arrested with the illicit drug in Enugu. In the meantime, the purloined cocaine will be replaced with a dummy worth 15kg. He asked the NDLEA officer to persuade men of the FCT Command, to play along as well.
Now, anybody who is in touch with the reality of the renewed drug war by NDLEA since January 18, 2021, would know that that was a tall order because our officers and men have rededicated themselves to the war against illicit drugs and what Kyari was asking for was not tenable, not in this new dispensation, not with the new NDLEA. We can recall that one of our officers was in the same situation in May 2021 when a drug kingpin, Ejiofor Felix Enwereaku, flew from Brazil to Nigeria to negotiate the release of a 27.95 kg shipment of cocaine intercepted at the MMIA. The drug lord offered a bribe of $24, 500, but our officer placed duty above pecuniary interest. We all know how the episode ended. That is the ethos of the new NDLEA. And our officer proved it again this time by reporting to the authorities.
