NDLEA statement proves Abba Kyari still active in IRT despite suspension

Abba Kyari may still be actively working with the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) despite his purported suspension, ENigeria Newspaper reports.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) proclaimed Abba Kyari, the suspended chief of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), wanted for drug charges on Monday.

Kyari was accused of being a member of a cartel that runs the illicit drug pipeline between Brazil, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, according to a statement signed by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi.

Despite being suspended by Inspector General of Police Usman Alkali, Kyari was still active with the IRT, according to the NDLEA statement.

ENigeria Newspaper reports that the statement explained that an IRT that works with Kyari apprehended and arrested some alleged drug traffickers that arrived into the nation.
Parts of the statement that show Abba Kyari is active involvement with the IRT read, “The saga started on Friday, January 21, 2022, when DCP Abba Kyari initiated a call to one of the NDLEA officers in Abuja at 2:12 pm.

“His (Kyari) team had intercepted and arrested some traffickers that came into the country from Ethiopia with, according to him, 25kg of cocaine.

“He (Kyari) proposed a drug deal whereby he and his team are to take 15kg of the cocaine and leave 10kg for the prosecution of the suspects arrested with the illicit drug in Enugu.”

The statement also said, “Kyari disclosed that the 15kg (already taken out) was shared between the informants that provided information for the seizure and he and his men of the IRT of the Nigerian Police. According to him, the informants were given 7kg while his team took 8kg which was already sold.”

Before now, Kyari was being investigated by the Nigerian Police Force after the United States authorities declared him wanted over his alleged role in a scam perpetrated by a fraudster Ramon Abbas, aka, Hushpuppi, and five others.

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent Andrew Innocenti said he obtained voice calls and WhatsApp conversations between Abba Kyari and Hushpuppi, adding that Hushpuppi also paid the police officer N8 million or $20,600 for the arrest and detention of a “co-conspirator,” Chibuzo Vincent.