Hushpuppi: Court refuses to stop Abba Kyari’s extradition

A federal high court sitting in Abuja has declined a request to stop the extradition of the suspended deputy commissioner of police, Abba Kyari.

Mr Kyari was named as a member of a fraud syndicate by the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

To probe allegations against him, the commander of the police intelligence response team (IRT) was suspended.

About N8million was traced to the embattled officer from an internet fraudster Ramon Abbas popularly known as Hushpuppi.

Mr Hushpuppi, according to the FBI, paid the said amount to the suspended IRT commander for the detention of one Vincent Chibuzo, his co-conspirator in a $1.1million fraudulent deal.

Mr Kyari who declared himself clean said he only acted as a debt collector to recover the amount for the fraudster’s friend.

Delivering his verdict on Thursday, Justice Ahmed Mohammed declined the motion which was filed by a group under the aegis of the Incorporated Trustees of Northern Peace Foundation.

The group, in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/854/2021, prayed the court to bar the arrest and possible extradition of the embattled officer the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF).

Rather, the court ordered the applicants, through their lawyer, Olukayode Ajulo, to convert the ex-parte application to a motion on notice and serve all the relevant processes on the two defendants.

The judge subsequently adjourned the matter till September 9 for mention.