The alleged involvement of the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, in a drug deal has further exposed the endemic corruption in the Nigeria Police Force. The embattled Kyari was arrested on February 14, 2022 for alleged drug trafficking. Other police officers arrested in connection with the case included ACP Ubua, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirgba and Inspector John Nuhu, while ASP John Umoru is reportedly at large.
Although still an allegation until proven in a court of law, the matter has cast a slur on the image of the police both within and outside our shores. Without mincing words, the arrest of the ‘super cop’ will go down in history as the biggest drug catch by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in its renewed bid to rid the country of narcotics.
The spokesman of the anti-drug agency, Mr. Femi Babafemi, had, during a press conference in Abuja, revealed some details of the sting operation that eventually led to the unearthing of the drug syndicate with Brazil, Ethiopia and Nigeria connections. According to him, “some law enforcement agents, who should be partners in the pursuit of the President’s mandate, are at the forefront of breaking the law, as they aid and abate drug trafficking in the country.”
At the same time, the NDLEA and the Nigeria Police are enjoined to work in concert to fish out any of their personnel linked with the drug syndicate and ensure that they are properly investigated and prosecuted. We say this because there may be other stained officers in these agencies.
Before the incident, Kyari who was in charge of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Force Intelligence Bureau of Nigeria Police monitoring team, had been fingered in a fraud case involving the internet fraud kingpin, Ramon Abbas, alias Hushpuppi, by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Abbas was reportedly arrested on June 25, 2020, during a sting operation in Dubai, United Arab Emirate. The FBI had earlier charged Kyari for complicity in the case with Abbas and requested his arrest and extradition to the United States, a request yet to be attended to by the Nigerian government.
With the sting operation on the most decorated police officer in the country, the new leadership of the NDLEA has demonstrated that it will no longer be business as usual and that nobody is above the laws of the land, no matter his place in the society. The era of treating some people as sacred cows or untouchables is gone for good.
When many Nigerians thought that Kyari will not be extradited to the US to answer fraud charges following investigations by the Nigeria Police, his recent arrest, made possible when the NDLEA declared him wanted in connection with a cocaine deal, has marked a radical departure from the norm.
We commend the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), for repositioning the anti-drug agency and being in the forefront of the war against drug trafficking in the country. We also laud President Muhammadu Buhari for championing the war against drugs through his numerous interventions and lending the necessary support to ensure that the drug war is still on course. So far, the NDLEA has proved that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government can function effectively if given the required tools and incentives. Till date, the NDLEA has, since the inception of Buba Marwa as the head of the agency, made 12,306 arrests and 1,367 convictions. It has also recovered cash and drugs worth over N130 billion. The NDLEA has equally carried out counseling and treatment of over 8,000 drug users within a single year.
Without doubt, the appointment of Marwa as the boss of the NDLEA, the launch of the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign and the recruitment and training of additional 5,000 narcotic officers, among other interventions, must have been responsible for the achievements recorded so far by the anti-drug agency.
However, the NDLEA must ensure that Kyari and others arrested in connection with the drug saga are diligently prosecuted. On no account should anybody involved in the matter be treated as a special breed or a sacred cow. The so-called Nigerian factor should not be allowed to muddle the case. This is perhaps the only way the agency can prove that the war against drug trafficking is still on course.