Embattled Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, was alleged to have narrowly escaped murder in Kuje Prison by aggrieved inmates.
An official whose name was not mentioned said that about 190 inmates, mostly in prison for drug offenses, accused him of betraying them while in active service, by collecting bribe from them for their release but failed to do that.
TheFact Nigeria recalls that Kyari had, earlier this month, alleged that his life in the Correctional Facility was in jeopardy, as he and his team faced attack and open threats to their lives by heads of criminal gangs that they had busted while still on active duty. In a document he presented to the Abuja Federal High Court by his lawyer, Nureini Jimoh, Kyari urged the Court to review his bail application which was initially rejected.
The former senior police officer was allegedly rescued by officials and had since been kept in an isolated cell “under heavy protection where no one sees him for fear of attack or poisoning”, the official said.
It was further alleged that Kyari had to pay each of the aggrieved inmates N200,000 “to buy loyalty and peace.” Nevertheless, sources said the aggrieved inmates have continued to threaten Kyari’s life even after the settlement.
It was stated that official recommendation had been made that Kyari should be transferred out of Kuje to an SSS facility.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Correction Service, Francis Enobore, denying the attack on Kyari, wa quoted as saying, “I am not aware Abba Kyari paid anybody to secure his safety in prison”.
Kyari, before his fall, was in charge of the elite Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector-General Police and was first suspended from duties after being named in July 2021 by American investigators as an accomplice in the international fraud and money laundering scheme of Ramon Abbas, popularly called Hushpuppi.
While on suspension and awaiting the outcome of an internal probe, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in February 2022, accused him of involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy.
