Disgraced police officer, Abba Kyari is considered for a prison change after he escaped being murdered by over 190 aggrieved inmates at the Kuje Correctional Center, Abuja.
Punch Metro reports that Kyari could be extradited to the United States of America where he was indicted in a $1.1m wire fraud committed by Abass Ramon commonly known as ‘Hushpuppi’ against a Qatari School Founder by the US Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California in 2021.
However, while awaiting the government’s decision on his extradition, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency filed eight charges against the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police over his involvement in alleged drug trafficking before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
Kyari was subsequently arrested and remanded to Kuje prison in March, alongside six others, after the court denied them bail.
However, a recent report by Premium Times revealed that Kyari was nearly killed by aggrieved inmates who accused the embattled cop of insincerity in bribe-for-release deals when he was in active service.
Sources revealed that Kyari was rescued by officials and has since been kept in an isolated cell “under heavy protection where no one sees him for fear of attack or poisoning.”
The publication, citing an internal document and officials, added that Kyari is could be moved to the custody of the State Security Service as a result of the attack which occurred on May 4.
An official revealed that Kyari bribed his attackers, numbering at least 190 who are mostly in prison for drug offences, with the sum of N200,000 each.
In addition to the “in initial settlement fees,” Kyari “procured DSTV subscription for cells to buy loyalty and peace,” one source said.
Another source, a state investigator and intelligence officer, who described Mr Kyari as a “dodgy criminal”, while quoting an inmate said Kyari was “eliminating smaller (drug) dealers to clear the field for Afam Ukatu,” a suspected billionaire drug baron allegedly behind N3 billion Tramadol deal linked to Mr Kyari.
“Inmates claimed that upon arrest, Abba Kyari demanded bribes to kill the case, then still prosecuted them,” a Kuje prison source who accessed the testimonies of the aggrieved inmates, said.
However, “Regardless of the level of protection, they vowed to get him,” a source said. “The inmates have given him an ultimatum to return all he extorted from them or be killed.”
“Relevant officials have assessed that he will be killed or badly injured if he continues to be remanded in Kuje,” sources added.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Correction Service, Francis Enobore, denied the attack, stating that he is “not aware Abba Kyari paid anybody to secure his safety in prison.”
However, a prison source told the publication that “So far, he[Kyari] has every relevant officer on his payroll. They do his bidding, he sees his wife, and he has access to mobile devices and marabouts.”
