TEXT OF PRESS BRIEFING BY THE NATIONAL DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY, NDLEA, ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2022.
Gentlemen of the press, there isn’t any higher approach to begin this press briefing than to remind us concerning the enormity of the drug drawback Nigeria has on its hand and the crucial of all well-meaning Nigerians to play a optimistic function in curbing the illicit drug menace.
Even earlier than the damning findings of the 2018 National Drug Use and Health Survey, Nigeria’s drug drawback was getting near epidemic proportion. And if something, the arrests and seizures by NDLEA up to now 12 months is a sign that the nation’s drug drawback was grossly underestimated earlier than President Muhammadu Buhari’s resolve to strengthen the NDLEA and the next launch of offensive motion by the Agency to wash the society of the menace.
And in simply 12 months, even essentially the most cynical of Nigerians now agree that the nation is absolutely in a drug quagmire and due to this fact appreciates the relentless efforts of NDLEA operatives.
Unfortunately, some regulation enforcement brokers who must be companions within the pursuit of the President’s mandate are on the forefront of breaking the regulation, as they assist and abet drug trafficking within the nation.
Today, we’re pressured to declare one in all such regulation enforcement brokers needed within the individual of suspended DCP Abba Kyari, the erstwhile Commander of Intelligence Response Team (IRT) on 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 must reply questions that crop up in an ongoing drug case during which he’s the principal actor. His failure to cooperate pressured the hand of the Agency and that’s for this press briefing.
Let me give a synopsis of what transpired.
The saga began on Friday, January 21, 2022, when DCP Kyari initiated a name to one of many NDLEA officers in Abuja at 2:12 pm. When the officer returned the decision two minutes later, Kyari knowledgeable him he was coming to see him, to debate an operational matter after the Juma’at service.
He appeared on the agreed venue of the assembly with the officer and went straight to the crux of the matter. This was it: His staff had intercepted and arrested some traffickers that got here into the nation from Ethiopia with, in line with him, 25kg of cocaine. He proposed a drug deal whereby he and his staff are to take 15kg of the cocaine and go away 10kg for the prosecution of the suspects arrested with the illicit drug in Enugu. In the meantime, the purloined cocaine can be changed with a dummy value 15kg. He requested the NDLEA officer to influence males of the FCT Command, to play alongside as effectively.
Now, anyone who’s in contact with the fact of the renewed drug struggle by NDLEA since January 18, 2021, would know that that was a tall order as a result of our officers and males have rededicated themselves to the struggle in opposition to illicit medicine and what Kyari was asking for was not tenable, not on this new dispensation, not with the brand new NDLEA. We can recall that one in all our officers was in the identical state of affairs in May 2021 when a drug kingpin, Ejiofor Felix Enwereaku, flew from Brazil to Nigeria to barter the discharge of a 27.95 kg cargo of cocaine intercepted on the MMIA. The drug lord supplied a bribe of $24, 500, however our officer positioned obligation above pecuniary curiosity. We all know the way the episode ended. That is the ethos of the brand new NDLEA. And our officer proved it once more this time by reporting to the authorities.
By 11: 05 am on Monday, January 24, after the Agency gave the officer the inexperienced mild to play alongside, he and Kyari started a WhatsApp name for the remainder of the day. The officer conveyed “their” willingness to play the sport.
At this level, Kyari disclosed that the 15kg (already taken out) was shared between the informants that supplied data for the seizure and he and his males of the IRT of the Nigerian Police. According to him, the informants got 7kg whereas his staff took 8kg which was already offered. He then supplied to pay the NDLEA staff (that’s the officer and the FCT commander) by promoting, on their behalf, half of the remaining 10kg, thereby additional lowering the unique cocaine for the prosecution to simply 5kg. At N7m per kilogram, the proceed from the 5kg would quantity to N35m, on the trade fee of N570 per greenback being the black market fee for the day, January 24, 2022. In impact, he can be delivering $61, 400 to the NDLEA staff. He put stress on our officer to wrap up the association with the commander of the FCT Command to take custody of the drug and suspects from his males who had been on floor in Abuja. At the time, he was talking from Lagos, the place he allegedly travelled for personal enterprise.
The subsequent day January 25, Kyari supplied to ship his youthful brother to ship the fee whereas his males ship the suspects, however our officer turned down the suggestion, insisting he would quite cope with him in individual and was due to this fact ready to attend for him to return from Lagos.
And by 5: 23 pm, Kyari was in Abuja and met with the officer on the similar rendezvous the place that they had the primary assembly. In their dialogue, he disclosed how his staff obtained the knowledge from a double-crosser who betrayed the traffickers to him, displaying a sordid connection between regulation enforcement brokers and the drug underworld; he narrated how appearing on the tip-off, his staff departed Abuja to Enugu and arrested the traffickers, eliminated a part of the consignment on his instruction and changed similar with dummies. He additionally indicated how one can establish the remnant of the unique cocaine that will be delivered to NDLEA, 5 authentic packages marked with pink dots. The cause for this was to keep away from the dummies being subjected to check. He forwarded an image of the marked authentic cocaine bundle. According to the plan, as soon as the 5kg cocaine has been examined within the presence of the suspects and confirmed optimistic, there can be no want to check the remaining ones, being dummies.
He additionally introduced with him the cash from the sale of the 5kg share of the NDLEA staff, a complete of $61, 400. Our officer, nonetheless, most popular to take the cash inside his automotive. Well, the automotive was wired with sound and video recorders. And the second was documented, a part of which I’ll play for you on the finish of this briefing.
So we now have a trove of intelligence, arduous information, from chats to pictures and video and an in depth transcript of the communication between him and the NDLEA officer.
This is just not the place to delve into the main points. But it’s disheartening to listen to straight from the horse’s mouth the form of sleaze engaged in by this staff of rogue regulation enforcement brokers led by Kyari, the members of whom he described this fashion: “the boys are very, very sharp, they are very loyal.”
It is disheartening to listen to him say of this rogue staff, and I quote: “I do take good care of them, and this kind of work is done by only that team.”
It is equally disheartening to listen to him give particulars of one other comparable operation which they pulled off, three weeks in the past, in line with him.
Well, I’m not right here to clean his soiled linen within the public. But I would like us to grasp how we arrive at this juncture whereby we’re having this press briefing.
NDLEA has the mandate to take custody of suspects and consignments of medication seized by different arms of regulation enforcement. And there’s a commonplace protocol for such switch. This we duly adopted. The suspects and medicines had been delivered to us on February 8 however the final a part of the method, but to be accomplished, is the debriefing of Kyari.
Gentlemen of the press, DCP Abba Kyari was invited by NDLEA for debriefing on Thursday February 10 via two foremost channels as a result of there’s a complete lot of questions begging for solutions. The invitation was authentic and formal in line with our protocol. But up until the shut of workplace hours on Friday, February 11, he refused to reply. Up until this second, he hasn’t responded.
We are a law-abiding company of presidency. We comply with due course of. In that vein, we won’t detain suspects past the stipulated interval in line with the regulation earlier than we cost them to courtroom. And Kyari have to be debriefed earlier than the suspects are arraigned in courtroom.
Having did not honour the official invitation, NDLEA has no choice however to declare DCP Abba Kyari of the Nigerian Police WANTED, proper from this very second.
I need to say this publicly. We should not unaware of threats to the lives of NDLEA officers concerned on this investigation, whilst we proceed to do our greatest to guard our officers and males within the line of obligation.
We are making this sturdy assertion to these considering dangerous motion in opposition to NDLEA officers. They would solely reach compounding their issues within the occasion of the homicide of or hurt to officers and males of NDLEA.
Thank you.
