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By Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Police Service Commission (PSC) has directed the Inspector-General of Police(IGP), Usman Baba, to deepen investigations into the connection between the suspended erstwhile head of the IGP Intelligence Response Team, Abba Kyari, and an internet fraudster, Abbas Ramon, popularly known as Hushpuppi.
The commission, it was gathered, gave the IGP two weeks to turn in the report which would be reviewed by the PSC Standing Committee on Discipline.
The directive to the IGP follows the advice from the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
A four-man Special Investigation Panel headed by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigations Department, Joseph Egbunike, had earlier probed Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police.
Kyari was suspended in July 2021 for alleged involvement in a $1.1 million internet fraud allegedly perpetrated by Hushpuppi and four others; AbdulRahman Juma (Abdul); Vincent Chibuzo (Kelly); Rukayat Fashola (Morayo); and Bolatito Agbabiaka (Bolamide).
The Federal Bureau of Investigation had alleged that Hushpuppi paid $20,600 to two bank accounts allegedly provided by Kyari on January 20, 2020.
Kyari denied wrongdoing.
According to reports, the AGF said the facts contained in the police investigation report were not strong enough to convict Kyari.
Malami was said to have informed the commission that the police investigation on Kyari was not water-tight and that more facts were needed to establish the relationship between the suspended DCP and Hushpuppi, who is awaiting sentencing after striking a plea bargain deal with the United States authorities.
Based on the AGF’s advice, the commission was said to have asked the IGP to carry out a further probe into Kyari’s relationship with Hushpuppi.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson in the US Attorney Office for Central District of California, Thom Mrozek, has said Hushpuppi would be sentenced on February 14.
Mrozek, however, did not state the jail terms, which is expected to be between 10 and 18 years, according to BBC Pidgin.
“He may be subjected to removal from the United States once he completes his prison sentence,” he said.