Release Abba Kyari Like Dariye, Nyame

A group, Initiative for Better Societal Enlightenment, IBSE, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to order the release of suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police, DCP Abba Kyari, who is being held in Kuje Correctional Centre.

The group faulted the release of former Taraba State governor, Jolly Nyame and his Plateau State counterpart, Joshua Dariye from prison while holding on to the former Head of the Inspector General of Police’s Intelligent Response Team, IGP-IRT.

Both Nyame and Dariye were released on Monday four months after receiving a state pardon alongside 159 other inmates by President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.

But the group in a statement on Monday by its National Coordinator, Ofili Odey, in Abuja, faulted the release of the duo while “DCP Abba Kyari is being held without bail.”

“One wonders the sense of justice in this country. Again, one wonders why bail is no longer free and cannot be granted to him because he did not kill anyone, the allegations against him are bailable by law. His continuous detention shows how powerful drug barons are in Nigeria.

“Unfortunately, for a clear case of set-up, he was indicted and held without bail for more than 6 months. Nigerians should ask questions why he is being held without bail in a bailable case,” the statement read.

The group fumed:” How does it sound that people who stole billions are unceremoniously pardoned while someone who fought so exceptionally hard for the country more than any Police officer in the history of the country is being held without bail? Nigerians are seeing these happening and are aware that there is no sense of justice.”

“We demand that Kyari be released and freed from this charade. This is no war on drugs but vendetta being waged by drug barons together with NDLEA officers on their payroll, who have been angry that he cost them so much money by arresting Drug traffickers under them and refusing to compromise by collecting money and releasing the Drug traffickers and drugs back to them as it’s done by NDLEA officers who were indicted by the confessions of Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus arrested by the Police IRT and handed over to NDLEA,” the group insisted.

The group added:” We call on the president to intervene in this matter and direct a neutral and independent formation like DSS to investigate this case properly and all persons indicted starting from the NDLEA officers at the entry point of the drugs in Enugu Airport to the Big Drug Barons sponsoring the massive inflow of the Drugs who are Shielded now and the Police officers that Arrested the Drug traffickers and recovered the drugs be all thoroughly investigated and all that was found wanting to be prosecuted for fairness and justice to all but not this type of one-sided persecution that is presently going on.

“We also call on the national assembly to investigate and restore the integrity of the NDLEA by bringing out their indicted officers and the Major Drug Barons they are shielding from the media and Prosecution.

This drama of staging fake arrests while the real Drug barons and indicted NDLEA Officers are smiling at the banks is not healthy for the country.

“We demand the unconditional release of Kyari and his men on bail because Kyari and his men are better used to fight terrorists and bandits who are taking over the country now to enable them to assist in this period of a grave national security challenge than being kept in prison for no substantive reason.”

It claimed:” Nyame and Dariye are freed today because of high-wired politics. Nigerians are aware that politically exposed persons can commit any offence and get away with it.”

“What we demand is Kyari’s release, who by the way cannot run because he and his colleagues had all the opportunities to escape on 5/7/2022 when over 300 armed terrorists took over the Kuje Correctional Centre for 3 hours and released all the inmates to escape after rescuing all their terrorist members.

90 per cent of all the inmates escaped that night while Kyari and his colleagues with few others refused to escape”, it noted.