Charges Against Kyari Not Meant To Scuttle Extradition, Says NDLEA

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said former Commander of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Nigeria Police Force, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari, who was arrested for suspected drug trafficking, has not been paraded because it is not the custom of the agency.

NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, in a Twitter post monitored by The Nation, said the agency does not parade suspects but only posts photos and videos of some recoveries and suspects so people can see the work they do.

He also debunked speculations that the charges against Kyari, who will be arraigned today, were meant to scuttle extradition efforts against the suspended police officer, as they had been filed since February 28, 2022.

Babafemi, who was responding to a question, said: ”A lot of people are mixing things up here. We do not parade suspects. We have never paraded any suspects. That is the truth. I have never brought any suspects before newsmen. What we do most times is that when we issue a statement on our activities, we select some pictures of the exhibits, sometimes with the suspects there, just to show the public because we have a very cynical society that even with pictures, still a number of people would say it is not possible.

“So, you sometimes need pictures or videos to support the statement you are issuing out so that people can actually see and believe that. Beyond that some of these things also serve as deterrent to would-be offenders or those who are already in such line of criminality so that they can see that one day they can also be caught.

“I would love to state that the NDLEA did not file charges against these individuals just yesterday. The charges were filed against them since February 28, 2022. The matter has been assigned to a judge and the suspects are due for arraignment in court on Monday, March 7, before Court 8 of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

“This is to correct the insinuation that probably the NDLEA rushed to court to go and file charges after extradition charges were filed against one of the key suspects.

“In our case, we have charged seven persons, not just an individual alone. This is to correct the impression so that people would not keep reading unnecessary meaning into certain actions by the agency,” he said.