BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
A United States court has ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to arrest and detain Abba Kyari, the head of the Inspector General of Police’s Intelligence Response Team in the Nigeria Police Force, Abuja.
The warrant of arrest for Kyari was issued on Wednesday by Judge Otis Wright of the US District Court for the Central District of California directing the FBI to produce him in the US after he was indicted in the multi-million dollar fraud case of Ramon Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi.
According to the FBI, Kyari conspired with Hushpuppi to launder money. Hushpuppi had since last year been facing a fraud charge which he, this week, pleaded guilty to. Hushpuppi also indicted Kyari for receiving bribes from him to arrest a fellow fraudster.
However, in reaction to the news ordering for his arrest and in his defense, Kyari issued a statement on his Facebook page on Thursday.
He said: “Friends: Abbas who we later came to know as Hushpuppi called our office about two years ago that somebody in Nigeria seriously threatened to kill his family here in Nigeria and he sent the person’s phone number and pleaded we take action before the person attacks his family.
“We traced and arrested the suspect and after investigations, we discovered there wasn’t an actual threat to anyone’s life and they are longtime friends who have money issues between them hence we released the suspect on bail to go and he was not taken to any jail.
“Nobody demanded for a kobo from Abbas Hushpuppi. Our focus was to save people’s lives that were purported to have been threatened.
“Later, he saw some of my native clothes and caps on my social media page and he said he likes them and he was connected to the person selling the clothes and he sent about N300k directly to the person’s account. The native clothes and caps (5 sets) were brought to our office and he sent somebody to collect them in our office.
“Nobody demanded any money from Abbas Hushpuppi and nobody collected any money from him. We responded to a distress call he made on threat to his family and released the suspect when we discovered there was no life threat from the suspect. This is the true story. Vincent is alive, he can be contacted.
“For those who are celebrating that this is an indictment on us and mentioning some fictitious big money, they will be disappointed once again as our hands are clean and our record of service for two decades is open for everybody to see. They will continue seeing us serving our father land and we will continue responding to all distress calls from all Nigerians provided they are life threatening.
“For good Nigerians who appreciate our service please don’t worry as our hands are clean and they should please not respond to those celebrating and creating many false narratives without any evidence. We are used to such types of people and false newsmakers and distributors.
“Thank you all and GOD bless Nigeria,” Kyari’s statement read.
