By Salim Yunusa
Suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari is under fire for deleting a Facebook post of his statement denying taking a bribe from Ramon Abbas popularly known as Hushpuppi.
Hushpuppi had alleged he gave Kyari money to jail the rival after a dispute over a $1.1 million scam on Qatari businesspeople.
But Kyari denied, saying he never collected or demanded money from Hushpuppi.
Kyari had released a statement on his verified Facebook page narrating how he only connected the Hushpuppi to a fabric dealer whom the latter paid about N300, 000.
He also edited his statement to further include another money-related case he handled involving Hushpuppi.
But he deleted where he had earlier claimed to have linked Hushpuppi up with his tailor.
“Nobody demanded or collected any money from Abbas Hushpuppi. He can be interviewed publicly in the presence of world media by the people holding him to confirm this,” the now-deleted version reads.
“He also called for another case in June 2020 and complained about a financial transaction with a second person whom he said his friend sent 8 million naira to and pleaded for his friend’s money to be recovered.
“He sent transaction slips and other evidences to prove their case against the person all these can be verified from the Hushpuppi since he is still in custody.
“And it can be verified from the person who collected the 8 million naira from Hushpuppi’s friend whom they complained about is alive and is in Nigeria.
“Generally whatever investigation steps/tactics that is being taken in most cases especially on the parties in this type of case from January to June is not for public consumption. This is the true story,” he had said.
The suspended DCP later deleted the entire post, an action that generated reactions from Nigerians on social media
Some of the reactions include that of journalist Gimba Kakanda, who tweeted, “As at last night, DCP Abba Kyari had edited his Facebook statement a record 12 times. He edited out his role as a Kaftan plug for Hushpuppi and wrote that he’s a mere debt collector; a more incriminating role. This morning, he deleted the entire post. This man isn’t smart at all. who claim he didn’t display intelligence despite heading the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
Blogger Japhet Omojuwa reacted to Kakanda’s post, saying, “People need to learn that at times like this, whether you are guilty or not, log off the internet. Sleep if you can. Then return with a clearer head. You can’t deal with a mess by creating more mess. Except creating another mess works for you (works sometimes). Not in this case.”
According to activist Aisha Yesufu, “Abba Kyari’s intelligence is what is heading our intelligence unit and you wonder why terrorists, criminals, kidnappers and co are always winning.”
