Nnamdi Kanu

By Muhammad El-Bonga Ibraheem 

The damning and weighty allegations against DCP Abba Kyari, who many consider a cult hero within the Nigerian security system, is confoundingly infelicitous. The FBI indicted the fine police officer for being in cahoot with the internationally recognised fraudster known as Hushpuppi, who has been in US custody since July 2020 for multiple crimes perpetrated in and outside America. 

DCP Abba Kyari is an officer I so much respect. In fact, in him, I see a bright future for the police force given his expertise and tenacity in arraigning criminals and finding a way out where there is seemingly none. This development, however, evidently leaves me very sad that the person we hold in high regard isn’t what we really think he is, at least from what he portrays to the public and from what the FBI concludes from their thorough investigations. 

Over the years, the Deputy Commissioner of Police has attracted quite a myriad of attention that transcends across the nooks and crannies of the country. There is this general belief that whenever the police want to fish out criminals or swiftly achieve some desired results, Abba Kyari, nicknamed “Jack Bauer”, is the man for the job. He led many successful operations that culminated in the arrest of some criminals at the top of the Nigerian kidnapping echelon, notably Evans, the billionaire kidnapper. That singular arrest catapulted his reputation and made him a cult hero amongst the ranks and files of the police force and within the psyche of the Nigerian masses, who are usually downtrodden. Not very long ago, his men hunted the killers of the late APC chieftain Ahmed Gulak who was iniquitously murdered by IPOB terrorists masquerading as “unknown gunmen” in Imo State. 

Despite his unrivalled excellence as a super cop, nonetheless, that doesn’t mean Abba Kyari isn’t infallible. The FBI said Abba Kyari received orders from Hushpuppi to arrest and detain a criminal “colleague” after their falling out having scammed a Qatari national of more than $1m. The report added that Abba Kyari allegedly supplied an account of which a “thank you” message, which the FBI alludes could be from the proceeds of the crime, was sent to him by Hushpuppi.

At this juncture, no matter how much you want to twist the issue, Kyari shot himself on foot by cavorting with people of dodgy characters. The fact that an internationally known criminal in the mould of Hushpuppi— with criminal networks spanning from Nigeria to America, Britain, Korea etc.— can make one call to a police officer to have someone arrested for scuppering a “job” is indeed shocking and also speaks volumes about the influence he exerts in the force. The duo chatted many times where Kyari was egregiously revealed to have received direct orders from Hushpuppi regarding how the police should treat the arrested person. DCP Abba Kyari’s relationship with Hushpuppi also involved buying clothes for the fraudster to the extent that the latter would come and get them from the former’s office. While a police officer remains everyone’s friend, Kyari’s frolicking with Hushpuppi is too difficult to be whitewashed unless the investigations are finalised to determine his innocence if indeed he is. 

Although Abba Kyari had already responded to the weighty allegation, his explanations don’t hold any water, for he needs to prove to everyone keenly fixated on the issue, beyond any reasonable doubt, that he’s indeed not guilty. Much to his chagrin, Kyari edited the Facebook post conveying his initial response many times and subsequently deleted it. The various chats where Hushpuppi ordered Kyari and his men to arrest his so-called colleague and be dealt with like an armed robber without any form of investigation is an indication that they could have been frolicking for a long time. The “arrest” of Hushpuppi’s colleague for weeks is a preemptive move to prevent him from scuppering an ongoing “job” of scamming a Qatari national where the fraud money was later laundered in the US. This is where the FBI fingered Kyari as a possible co-conspirator in the whole issue. 

 The FBI is reputedly known for being painstakingly meticulous regarding their investigations. If they’re really on your case, nothing is usually left untouched, for they do back up their reports with undeniable, substantiated facts and documents. I have read an analysis from a lawyer friend who argued that the US has no jurisdiction to request Kyari’s extradition to be questioned in the US since he committed the alleged crime in Nigeria. The US— and by extension, the developed nations— always fear that justice may not be served, knowing full well how our system here in Nigeria operates. Is it not in this same Nigeria that James Ibori got cleared of any wrongdoing by Nigerian courts, having committed one of the greatest corruption in our history? But later on, James Ibori finally met his waterloo when he was arrested in the UK and forced to serve many years in a UK prison. 

Some of our northern people have started defending Kyari, painting the whole thing an ethnic colouration. I read a post where someone said the Igbos support Kanu and his proscribed IPOB group at all costs; the Yorubas support Igboho against all odds; therefore, he asks: why shouldn’t we, as northerners support our own? You see, this habit of shielding glaring depravities is one of the reasons why Nigeria continues to lag in all facets of development; it is also the reason why we continue to grope for exemplary leadership to lead us to the promised land within our fold. What is wrong should be dismissed by all and sundry regardless of religious and ethnic ties. Besides, the duo of Igboho and Kanu have openly declared their rebellion against the Nigerian nation. As for Abba Kyari, he is a civil servant in our most crucial agency whose responsibility is to serve and protect the interest of all Nigerians regardless of their ethnic disposition or religious affiliation, which explains why his issue is huge. Unfortunately, he got himself soiled in a huge mess that has the propensity to obliterate all his outstanding brilliance records.

The police suspension of the super cop to pave a berth for an investigation into the matter is a commendable move. Whatever sprouts out of from the investigation, Kyari should blame himself for it’s the offshoot of his actions, having chosen to dine and wine with criminals. When you rise to fame through something magnificent, you shouldn’t do anything to bring it down, for posterity will always forget your good days but will loudly judge and label you with your few bad instances. Sadly, such is the case of Kyari today. 

Muhammad El-Bonga Ibrahim writes from Abuja. He can be reached via bonga2004@icloud.com.

By Muhammad Tsaure

The Biafra saga is no longer South East or South-South issue; instead, it has culminated into something more devastating and absolute hatred to Buhari in particular and Northern Nigeria in general.  I garnered series of experiences primarily based on the discussion I held with a significant number of people from the southeastern region. I learned from them that they mainly think the North doesn’t want them to leave the union because the proportionate percentage of the country’s GDP comes from their region. Thus, if they secede, the North will be left bankrupt and nowhere to turn to.

Unknown to many of those people, this thought is nothing short of ignorance about the exact nature of Northern Nigeria. The North is endowed with whatever a country needs to survive, prosper and develop. We are not parasites, as they claim. But, if they want to go, please, let them go in peace. Nigeria doesn’t necessarily need Igbos to survive.

The North has come of age now; we can fend for ourselves and don’t need any region to live and survive as a country. Whoever wants to go, let them go. The North has treated Igbo people with dignity, love and leniency. The entire Biafra States are not up to Kaduna State in terms of population as well as geography.

In 2015 I was at the Niger-Delta University (NDU) at Wilberforce Island for a conference organised by the Literary Society of Nigeria. After presenting my research paper entitled “Diaspora Literature: A Protest Literature or Romanticism?” We went along with other colleagues to Yenagoa (the capital city of Bayelsa State) to explore or otherwise become a group of tourists. But, to my amazement, the entire Bayelsa State is not up to Bichi local government area in Kano or Funtua local government of Katsina State. Yet, they have three Senators; representing Bayelsa Central, Bayelsa West and Bayelsa East and five Members House of Representatives, and one minister of State on Petroleum.

The conference lasted for six days, and I visited the entire eight (8) local government areas of Bayelsa State. You hardly believe whether or not people are living in some of these local governments. Houses scattered, each community has its language or dialect.

The same week I came back home, I went to Bichi local government of Kano state to verify my assumption or guess. On reaching there, the conclusion I had to make was that Bichi local government is far larger in terms of population, buildings, and whatever one could think of than Bayelsa State. And nobody in the North ever complains about that.

Muhammad Tsaure is the Principal of Government Secondary School, Tsaure. He can be reached via 76muhammadtsaure@gmail.com.

The Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoleye Sowore, has been arrested by officers of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) in Abuja.

The incident happened at the Federal High Court, Abuja, the venue of the trial of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Sowore confirmed the incident on his Twitter handle that he was “Just arrested by @PoliceNG at the Federal High Court in Abuja!”

Reports have indicated that security operatives have successfully apprehended the self-styled Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo (aka Sunday Igboho) and his wife.

SaharaReporters, an online newspaper, has reported that Igboho was nabbed Monday night after fleeing Nigeria to circumvent arrest by the secret police in Nigeria.

A source in the know of the matter told SaharaReporters that, “Sunday Igboho has been arrested in Cotonou. He was arrested about an hour ago.

“He was supposed to travel to Germany through Cotonou this night. He wanted to leave Africa through Cotonou. He was arrested by security operatives in Cotonou.

“They are planning to bring him back to Nigeria.”

Recently, Nigeria’s secret police had declared Sunday Igboho wanted and was advised to turn himself in after a raid on his home in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The self-styled activist is known for his secessionist agenda and his agitation for the creation of a Yoruba nation, a move the federal government warned against.

This is coming weeks after another separatist, Nnamdi Kanu, was arrested and repatriated to Nigeria after he jumped bail in 2017 on treason charges.

By Muhammad Mahmud

Even as the nation is struggling to bring an end to the Boko Haram crisis, which could’ve been effectively tamed but for the inane and complacent manner the leadership of some Northeastern states treated the issue initially, we could not but gape at the myopic decision of the Southern governors to fly the kite of moral support to their organized thugs who were recently suppressed by the authorities. 

At their meeting on Monday, July 5 2021, the southern governors “resolved that if for any reason security institutions need to undertake an operation in any State, the Chief Security Officer of the State MUST be duly informed.” (Emphasis mine).

It is unmistakable that the governors were referring to the recent success recorded by the nation’s security agencies in arresting many IPOB members, including their “supreme leader” Nnamdi Kanu, and the arrests at the residence of a tribal warlord, Sunday Igboho.

One cannot but wonder how on earth these governors will be so insensitive to the flights of their people. The gory stories emanating from the arrested members of IPOB, where 2000 fresh skulls of innocent southern girls were targeted and how lives of fellow southerners who never aligned themselves to the “cause” were to be wasted, are enough to galvanize the governors into taking stern action against those terrorists. But to the shock of the whole nation, these governors, who never even found it worth their time to give a one minute silence to mourn souls of the ten brutally killed girls, have the temerity to demand that they must be informed whenever the criminals are to be arrested. 

Perhaps the support for IPOB and Igboho militia by the southern governors has everything to do with what Rochas Okorocha said, in an interview with BBC, that it was the fear of what the IPOB boys could do to them that stops Igbo elders from speaking against them. This gives a picture of caged and gagged elders who have no option but to simply watch as the boys took their entire region into uncertainty. This means that Kanu’s group has evolved into a monster that no Igbo could dare criticize even from afar. 

Maybe the southeastern leaders fear that what happened to the four Ogoni chiefs could befall them if they dare oppose IPOB. On May 21 1994, four Ogoni chiefs were beaten to death by angry Ogoni youths. The victims’ names were Edward Kobani, Alfred Badey, Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage. Their crime was that they were suspected to be against the MOSOP. Perhaps the Igbo leaders fear the Ogoni chiefs’ treatment from IPOB; that’s why they are backing them. 

But suppose Igbo elders are so terrified with the IPOB to the extent that they are hypnotized into submission, or they are so emotionally sympathetic to the “cause”. In that case, it is very dumbfounding that the south-southern governors couldn’t see the danger of backing IPOB for the simple fact that they (IPOB) made it categorically clear that any non-Igbo will be, and shall remain, a third-class citizen in the region. Suppose the south-western governors found it strategically right to support IPOB in supporting their tribal warlord, Igboho; what exactly is in it for the south-southern region? Their governors seem to be either coerced/harangued into submission or too foolish to figure this out for their people.  I believe if a south-southerner like Reno Omokri is among the governors, he will object to this. 

It appears as if the southern leaders are no longer in control. They seem to be tele-guided by the prevailing emotions in their regions instead of playing the leadership role of directing towards a better future for their people. 

Notwithstanding some of their failures and the resentments of their people, Northern elders are more in control and seem to be leading. When some northern youths issued a quit notice to the Igbos, in a reaction to the IPOB’s agitation, the leaders of the north rebuffed them. Governor El-Rufa’i even ordered their arrest. When some northern youths initiated “Shege Ka Fasa” as an answer to south-western governors’ backed “Amotekun”, the leaders of the north stopped them, and they complied. Even Boko Haram, with their firepower, did not frighten northern leaders into opposing the federal government to support them!

If the southern leaders are publicly backing their criminals with a kind of moral encouragement by attacking the federal government’s crush on them, they should, rest assured, know that it will boomerang. They should have taken lessons from what happened during the early stage of Boko Haram in the northeast.

During the initial stage of Boko Haram, they enjoyed massive support from their people. This is partly because they appeal to their people’s sentiments. All they need is to list eloquently, in a highly sentimental manner, the ills and backwardness that bedevilled the people in addition to hunger, poverty, diseases etc. and finally quote relatively congruent verses of the Qur’an and sayings of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to drive home their point that “Jihad” is the only way out and they, as the conveyors of that message, are the ones to lead. It was full of promises of a utopian state that will replace the current dystopian state. And that appealed to many, more especially as most of the movement members were children of the elite. What a perfect gulp of toxic will that be on the gullible, the strata of his/her social status notwithstanding.

It was only after the actual road to Sambisa was taken that the people realized, albeit too late, how wrong they were and how naive they behaved.

Now the IPOB and the tribal warlord, Sunday Igboho, are getting the support of the southern governors because they appeal to the sentiments of regionalism and tribalism (or drum up support for their political agenda), only time will reveal the sour fruits that will shower down. I hope some leaders will be blunt enough to put aside political correctness and act appropriately before that happens.

Malam Muhammad writes from Kano. He can be reached via meinagge@gmail.com.

Department of State Services has declared Yoruba activist Sunday Adeyemo alias Sunday Igboho wanted. The declaration followed rumours that men in uniform carried out a midnight raid on his residence in Ibadan, Oyo State, which led to the death of two people.

The DSS Public Relations Officer, Peter Afunnaya, disclosed this Thursday night during a press briefing and parading of suspect arrested during the raid at the national headquarters of the secret police. He further advised Igboho to turn himself in to the nearest security.

“Those cheering and eulogizing him may appeal to or advise him to do the needful,” Afunnaya said. “He should surrender himself to the appropriate authorities. He or anyone can never be above the law.”

Afunnaya added that the raid on Igboho’s residence was a response to an intelligence report that he had stockpiled arms in the place, some of which were now recovered.

“On approach to the residence, the team came under heavy gun attack by nine men, suspected to be Igboho’s guards. Six of them were armed with AK-47 guns and three others, with pump-action rifles,” the DSS spokesman added.

After a gun duel that lasted for an hour, during which Igboho escaped, “The [DSS] team procedurally searched the house and subsequently recovered the following seven 7 AK-47 assault rifles, three pump action guns, 30 fully charged AK-47 magazines, 5,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, five cutlasses, one jack knife and one penknife”, among other items.

In June, Igboho declared that Yoruba would break away from Nigeria latest by December 2021 to form the Oduduwa Republic. He was also alleged to have led attacks on Fulani herders and Hausa traders in the southwestern states of the country.

The Nigerian government have stepped up action against separatist recently. Igboho’s attempted arrest came a few days after the leader of proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, was arrested and extradited to Nigeria. He has been charged for treasonable felony, evading arrest and inciting violence at the Abuja Federal High Court.

The apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has stated that the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, will mark the end of violent agitations in the South-East.

This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the group’s General Secretary.

Ohanaeze said Kanu’s arrest will serve as a deterrent to others, warning that self-determination should not be used to garner wealth.

The group also noted that Kanu’s refusal to adhere to the advice of leaders and elders in the South-East is responsible for his misfortune.

The statement read, “Ohanaeze Ndigbo calls for calm and cautions Igbos to desist from any form of protests and processions that will bring more catastrophe for Southeastern Nigeria.

“The re-arrest of Nnamdi Kanu the leader of IPOB is the beginning of the end of violent agitations in southeastern Nigeria and a lesson to others that deviation from the nonviolent agitations contradicts what Igbos are known for, and self-determination should not be used for purposes of fortune and fame-seeking.

“Nnamdi Kanu’s refusal to adhere to the advice of Igbo leaders, elders, and political leaders is the outcome of what had befallen him. He made a lot of enemies, especially those that would have saved him and Federal Government will never loosen its grip on him again. We don’t think that any Igbo leader will stick out his/her neck for him, his re-arrest will eventually bring peace and stability to the region and avert another civil war that was raging on.”

The group urged the Nigerian government to handle the situation carefully to prevent violent revolts because of Kanu’s many followers. 

It added that “his trial should be strictly based on the laws of the land. They shouldn’t kill him because it will destabilise the entire country.”