Police commission suspends DCP Abba Kyari over FBI indictment

The Police Service Commission (PSC) has suspended Abba Kyari, deputy commissioner of police, following US court documents linking him to Ramon Abbas, self-confessed international fraudster better known as Hushpuppi. 

Usman Alkali, inspector-general of police (IGP), had recommended the suspension of Kyari to allow for an independent investigation of the allegations against the officer.

Hushpuppi alleged that he bribed Kyari to arrest one Vincent Chibuzo, a co-fraudster.

The Instagram celebrity said he gave the top cop money 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 denied any wrongdoing, saying he never collected money from Hushpuppi.

In a statement on Sunday, Ikechukwu Ani, spokesman of the commission, said Kyari’s suspension took effect from Saturday.

“Abba Kyari’s suspension took effect from Saturday, July 31st  2021 and would subsist pending the outcome of the investigation in respect of his indictment by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States,” Ani said.

“The commission has also directed the Inspector General of Police to furnish it with information on further development on the matter for necessary further action.

“The Commission’s decision which was conveyed in a letter with reference, PSC/POL/D/153/vol/V/138 to the Inspector General of Police today, Sunday, August 1st, 2021, was signed by Hon. Justice Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court and Honourable Commissioner 1 in the Commission for the Commission’s  Chairman, Alhaji Musiliu Smith, a retired Inspector General of Police who is currently on leave.”