The Movement for the Emancipation of Nigeria (MEN) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to grant an immediate pardon and discontinue the prosecution of suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari, describing his continued detention as a “grave injustice.”
In a statement issued on Tuesday by its Comrade General and former Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, the group said Kyari’s case has become “a symbol of selective justice” in light of recent presidential pardons granted to several convicts, some of whom were reportedly arrested by Kyari’s team.
“The Movement for the Emancipation of Nigeria observes with deep concern the continued detention and prosecution of Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari despite recent presidential pardons extended to convicted drug traffickers, fraudsters, kidnappers, and bandits — many of whom were arrested by his team in the line of duty,” the statement read.
Kyari, a former head of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), was arrested in February 2022 and arraigned by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over allegations of conspiring to tamper with and traffic 21.35 kilograms of cocaine seized from suspected drug traffickers. He has consistently pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The call for his release comes just days after President Tinubu granted clemency to 175 persons, including late nationalist Herbert Macaulay, Major General Mamman Vatsa, and Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death for the murder of her husband.
The amnesty, announced by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, followed recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
The clemency covered offences ranging from homicide and fraud to illegal mining, a move MEN said exposed inconsistencies in the nation’s justice system.
“The recent wave of presidential amnesties and pardons has effectively emptied the moral and legal basis for Kyari’s continued detention. His prosecution represents a double standard that undermines the integrity of Nigeria’s justice system,” MEN stated.
The group warned that sustaining the case could discourage public officers from taking decisive action against crime, describing Kyari as “a man who risked his life in the service of national security.”
“Justice demands consistency, and equity demands that mercy must not be reserved for the guilty while punishment is sustained against the righteous,” Dalung said.
MEN therefore called on the President and the Attorney-General of the Federation to “discontinue all charges against Kyari and secure his immediate release,” insisting that failure to do so would amount to “a travesty of justice and a betrayal of public trust.”
Kyari, once celebrated as Nigeria’s “super cop,” earned national and international recognition for leading several high-profile arrests before his suspension in 2022.
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