By Dan Koje
Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, the FBI has been on Hushpuppi’s trail for years. His conversations, transactions, movements, and all were tracked. The FBI is not Nigeria Police, they spend huge resources investigating a suspected crime such that when the suspects are arraigned before a judge, there is little or no loopholes in the case—a plea is entered or an outright conviction is mostly the case.
Without being prejudicial, I don’t see how Abba Kyari would claim innocence when there are conversations, chats intercepted, money trail evidence between him and Puppi, records of a Dubai visit, etc.
Kyari is only a small fry in Puppi’s web. There are others who probably would have been indicted but the FBI is only gathering more evidence about them.
It is unthinkable that a cop who belongs to an organization “Nigeria Police” that has consistently been ranked as the most corrupt in the world, would be unblemished. Remember, the same man has been embroiled in a series of scandals and accusations ranging from extrajudicial killings, extortion, intimidation to bribery.
Nigeria is a huge crime scene. There is a symbiosis between security agencies, the underworld, political, religious, academic and social elites. The lifestyles of the upper class and what we consider “normal” in Nigeria, would ordinarily be crimes in other climes.
Aren’t there good people in Nigeria? Yes, there are but to be 100% clean in a country that is sustained, fueled, and glued together by corruption, it is improbable. There is always something.
What would happen to Kyari? The worst is that he may be barred from traveling to certain countries having been indicted but I don’t see him being prosecuted there in Nigeria. He may probably be quickly promoted to even higher positions owing to his ethnic stock.
Remember when Lt Gen. Burutai was indicted of corruption for buying properties worth millions of dollars in Dubai much beyond his life’s earnings? Also, he was accused of mass killings across the country? Well, he is today an Ambassador with diplomatic immunity.
(c) Dan Koje 2021
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