Nigeria suspends 'Hushpuppi-linked' police officer Abba Kyari

 

Nigeria has suspended one of its most highly respected police officers after he was indicted in the US on money laundering charges.

Deputy commissioner Abba Kyari is accused of taking bribes from Nigerian Instagram celebrity Ray Hushpuppi, who has pleaded guilty to money laundering in the US.

Mr Kyari has denied the allegations.

The allegations shocked many Nigerians as he was known as a "super cop" who went after criminals.

Court documents filed in California said the 37-year-old Hushpuppi's crimes cost victims almost $24m (£17m).

Hushpuppi, whose real name is Ramon Abbas, posed as real estate developer in Dubai and posted photos of his lavish lifestyle on Instagram, where he had 2.5m followers.

He was charged in the US following his extradition from Dubai last year.

Kristi Johnson, acting director of the FBI's Los Angeles office, said Hushpuppi was one of the "most high-profile money launderers in the world".

His "celebrity status and ability to make connections seeped into legitimate organisations and led to several spin-off schemes in the US and abroad", she said.

In a statement last week, US officials said that Hushpuppi had alleged in an affidavit that he got Mr Kyari to arrest a syndicate member with whom he had fallen out.

Mr Kyari allegedly sent Hushpuppi details of a bank account in which he could deposit payment for the arrest, the statement said.

Nigeria's Police Service Commission - which is in charge of disciplining officers - said Mr Kyari would remain suspended pending the outcome of investigations.

Mr Kyari described the allegations as ''false'' and said his "hands are clean''.

The allegations against Mr Kyari has caused huge controversy in Nigeria - some people believe them while others say he has been set up.

It is unclear whether he will be extradited to the US to stand trial.

Hushpuppi could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

In one scheme, he attempted to steal more than $1.1m from someone who wanted to fund a new children's school in Qatar, the documents said.

Court records unsealed last week said he pleaded guilty to this charge on 20 April.

By Ishaq Khalid 

BBC 

Related story: The Hushpuppis And Nigeria’s Image

Nigerian athletes disqualified from Olympics due to inadequate drug testing

10 out of Nigeria’s 23 track and field athletes have been forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympic Games because they did not meet the minimum testing requirements under Rule 15 of the Anti-Doping Rules. In other words, the athletes did not receive the minimum amount of out-of-competition testing leading up to the Games in order to compete.

According to Nigerian news outlet, channelstv.com, the athletes are blaming their disqualification on negligence by their country’s sport administrators, and have taken to the streets in Tokyo to protest the decision to disqualify them from competition. The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has taken responsibility for the lapses, but it will not be enough to have the affected athletes reinstated.

The disqualified athletes are now protesting with signs that read “why should we suffer because of someone else’s negligence?” and “all we wanted to do was compete.” Eight athletes from other countries were also disqualified for the same reason. To clarify, none of the athletes involved were taken out of competition because of doping violations or missed tests, but rather because their country’s governing body responsible for testing athletes failed to test them enough times before the Games.

Prior to the Olympics, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), the independent body created by World Athletics to manages all integrity issues, identified Nigeria’s federation as “Category A” after a continued period of weak domestic testing levels. Other category A countries include Belarus, Bahrain, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Ukraine. One Nigerian athlete, sprinter and long jumper Blessing Okagbare, has been disqualified for failing a drug test on Saturday. 

By Brittany Hambleton 

Canadian Running

Video - Boko Haram exploiting social vulnerabilities

For over a decade, Boko Haram has launched attacks in the Sahel region. The group launched its first series of attacks in Nigeria's Borno state. A report by the Tony Blair Institute says Boko Haram established power by exploiting social vulnerabilities. Chief among those is the low-level of education in Nigeria's northeast. UNESCO puts the literacy rate for Borno state at 14 point 5 percent. The report urges authorities to prioritise soft-power policy programmes to combat the threat posed by Boko Haram.

Nigerian Police Ordered to Free 5 Anti-Buhari Activists

 A Nigerian court has ordered the secret police to release five suspects detained for wearing T-shirts criticizing President Muhammadu Buhari, their lawyer said Tuesday.

The men were arrested early this month by the Department of State Service (DSS) during a church service led by a well-known evangelical pastor in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

They had been wearing T-shirts with the slogan "Buhari Must Go!" inside the church when they were arrested and detained.

The church was accused of aiding the arrests, but it denied the allegation.

On Monday, the federal high court Abuja ordered the DSS to release the suspects, lawyer Allen Sowore told AFP.

"The judge ordered their release forthwith without any condition. But we have not got a certified true copy of that order," he said.

He said his clients were yet to be freed.

"Unfortunately, the judge has not signed the order. So, we just came here [to the DSS office] thinking that they will act on the order of the court, but they have not acted."

Buhari, a former army commander, has come under fire after his government recently banned Twitter, a move Western allies and critics warned undermined freedom of expression.

Officials announced the ban after Twitter removed a remark from Buhari's personal account for violating its policies.

The Nigerian leader is also under pressure to tackle the country's insecurity.

The security forces are battling an Islamist insurgency in the northeast, a surge in mass kidnappings by criminal gangs in central and northwestern states, and separatist tension in parts of the south.

VOA

Video - Kidnappers in Nigeria release 28 schoolchildren

Emotional scenes in Nigeria’s Kaduna state as 28 schoolchildren were reunited with their parents after being abducted by armed men. Other families were left in tears, with 87 students still missing.