The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has declared suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, wanted over alleged links with drug trafficking.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi made the announcement during a press conference in Abuja on Monday.
Before his suspension over links with convicted fraudster Hushpuppi, Mr Kyari was the Commander of Intelligence Response Team (IRT) at the Force Intelligence Bureau of the Nigerian Police Force.
According to the NDLEA, he is wanted over his involvement in a 25 kilograms Cocaine deal.
The Agency said it declared Mr Kyari wanted after all efforts to get him to honour formal invitations for his interrogation failed.
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It bemoaned a situation where those who are supposed to support current efforts to stem the tide of illicit drug trafficking and abuse are themselves neck deep in the menace.
“There is no better way to start this press briefing than to remind us about the enormity of the drug problem Nigeria has on its hand and the imperative of all well-meaning Nigerians to play a positive role in curbing the illicit drug menace,” Mr Babafemi said on Monday.
“Even before the damning findings of the 2018 National Drug Use and Health Survey, Nigeria’s drug problem was getting close to epidemic proportion. And if anything, the arrests and seizures by NDLEA in the past 12 months is an indication that the country’s drug problem was grossly underestimated before President Muhammadu Buhari’s resolve to strengthen the NDLEA and the subsequent launch of offensive action by the Agency to clean the society of the menace.
“And in just 12 months, even the most cynical of Nigerians now agree that the country is really in a drug quagmire and therefore appreciates the relentless efforts of NDLEA operatives.
“Unfortunately, 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 abet drug trafficking in the country.
“Today, we are forced to declare one of such law enforcement agents wanted in the person of suspended DCP Abba Kyari, the erstwhile Commander of Intelligence Response Team (IRT) at the Force Intelligence Bureau of the Nigerian Police Force.
“With the intelligence at our disposal, the Agency believes strongly that DCP Kyari is a member of a drug cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria illicit drug pipeline, and he needs to answer questions that crop up in an ongoing drug case in which he is the principal actor. His failure to cooperate forced the hand of the Agency and that is the reason for this press briefing.”
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