By Vera Chinonso Aliyu, YeyeNews.com, October 9, 2021
The Nigerian government has agreed to a deal to supply the United States 750,000 barrels of crude oil in exchange for dropping the indictment of the embattled police officer Abba Kyari, YeyeNews can authoritatively report.
Abba Kyari was indicted by a US court for conspiring with Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi, to defraud a businessman of $1.1 million.. The US government subsequently requested his extradition to face trial.
“The Nigerian government is unwilling to hand Kyari over to the United States for trial,” a senior police officer told YeyeNews.com reporter. “They feel he is still very useful and they need him for their dirty job. You will notice that since Kyari was suspended the security situation in the southeast has being deteriorating again. So they need him there.” The officer concluded.
“Kyari made a mistake but that is not enough to throw him under the bus,” a member of the Inspector General’s Rapid Response Team (IRT) told Yeye News. “Politicians do worst things but they still remain in their offices. Even if the US want 2 million barrels we, should give it to them. They already have Hushpuppi and others. They should be satisfied with that.”
Bukar Malama, who is part of the Nigerian negotiating team with the US government, explained that the president has already approved the deal. “The president did not hesitate to approve the deal. He sees Kyari as the face of the model Nigeria police Force he envisaged. So he is willing to do anything to save him from the United States government.”
But activists from the Niger Delta are questioning the rationale for predicating the deal on oil when the environment is already devastated from years of exploration. Boma Yinks, the Convener of Delta Environmental Justice queried, “Exploration activities are destroying our environment and the government is not taking any serious step to remedy the situation. They claim that they don’t have funds, but they are now willing to dash out 750,000 barrels to protect one corrupt man. Why didn’t they drill the oil from the newly discovered reserves in Borno and Yobe?”
Efforts to get the reactions of officials of the Nigerian government did not yield results as at press time.
