FG loses lawsuit to extradite Abba Kyari to U.S.

…Malami’s extradition suit hypocrisy of highest order — HURIWA

…AGF playing with sensibilities of Nigerians — Effiong

By Ariemu Ogaga and Ridwan Adekunle

The Federal Government has lost the battle to extradite the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, to the United States of America.

A Federal High Court in Abuja gave the ruling in favor of the suspended Abba Kyari yesterday.

A lawsuit that several had described as the hypocrisy of the Attorney General of the Federation, and mockery of the Nigerian masses.

In his ruling on Monday, Justice Inyang Ekwo struck out the suit filed by Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, on the ground that the application is incompetent, lacked merit, and was instituted in bad faith.

Justice Ekwo insisted that the current administration has no basis to file the extradition request having commenced trial in a case filed against the embattled Deputy Commissioner of Police by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

The Federal Government filed the extradition charges against Kyari to pave the way for his extradition to the US to answer fraud allegations.

Kyari is wanted in the United States over alleged conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft.

On April 29, 2021, a grand jury filed an indictment against Kyari with the approval of the US district court for the Central District of California, after which a warrant was issued for his arrest.

In July 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) indicted Kyari in a $1.1 million fraud involving an Instagram celebrity, Hushpuppi.

A month later, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, received the report of a panel set up to probe the allegation against the officer.

…Malami’s extradition suit hypocrisy of highest order – HURIWA

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on Monday, described as a grand hypocrisy, the extradition suit by the Attorney General of the Federation, and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), against the detained Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Abba Kyari.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement released to Nigerian NewsDirect on Monday said Malami should have known better “as a law officer of the country that the case of Kyari is a fait accompli.”

The group insisted that “The suspended head of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team cannot be extradited to the United State since he is facing drug-related crimes brought against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency with the blessing of the Honourable Federal Attorney General when he as the Chief law officer of the federation could have authorized the extradition application to run its full course first.

“This was prearranged and predetermined long before this decision of the Federal High Court which reflected the sinister plot of the AGF to frustrate the actual extradition of the Borno born police officer to the USA.”

Justice Ekwo held that the AGF being the Chief Law Officer of the country, ought to be aware that the Extradition Act, forbade the surrendering of a defendant that is already facing trial before a competent court in the country.

Onwubiko said, “The grand hypocrisy and shenanigan of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) in the DCP Abba Kyari’s case is now obvious.

“The action of the AGF is condemnable since he deliberately filed another matter against Kyari before seeking his extradition when as a lawyer he ought to know that it is a fait accompli since under the law you can’t extradite someone already facing a separate charge in Nigeria.

“It is important to ask the justice minister why he didn’t file the extradition suit about a year after Kyari was declared wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation until the NDLEA imbroglio.

“The whole drama, Nigerians know, is a planned script. HURIWA insists that justice be served on the matter to deter corrupt policemen like Kyari still in the force. The suspended DCP must not be protected but duly prosecuted.

“It is shocking that this same Attorney General of President Buhari is often in a mad rush to extradite Southerners wanted in the USA but had to contrive a safe landing route for their man Abba Kyari,” he stated.

On his verified Twitter handle, a public interest and Human Rights lawyer and Activist, Inibehe Effiong said, “The extradition request against DCP Abba Kyari has been refused by the Federal High Court on the ground that Kyari is already and currently facing charges filed by the NDLEA.

“I warned on March 3 that AGF Malami was playing with the sensibilities of Nigerians.”

Also, a Digital Journalist, Adenekan Mayowa warned Nigerians not to be deceived, describing the extradition lawsuit against Kyari as a subterfuge by the federal government.

He said, “Nigerians don’t be deceived about the whole Abba kyari extradition game from the FG; they know what they are doing, it’s a planned arrangement between the FG and the court because the judiciary is even more corrupt.

“The American government never forgets, Abba Kyari’s case will still be waiting for him.”