The Hushpuppi Scandal: “I Only Connected Him To My Tailor – DCP Abba Kyari; Says He Is As Clean As A Whistle

By Adesina Soyooye

Will the glittering career of Nigeria’s star Cop, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, end abruptly in a smoke of scandals? Likely, if the decision of a United States Court which is trying notorious Nigerian fraudster, Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, popular as Hushpuppi, is  anything to go by.

The Court has just issued a Warrant of Arrest against DCP Abba Kyari, on the grounds that he had an untidy dealing with the fraudster.

Hushpuppi had, allegedly, submitted that he bribed Kyari to the tune of $1.1m to arrest a co-fraudster, Vincent, and jail him over a business deal gone awry.

But in  his first reaction to the monumental allegation against him by Hushpuppi,  Kyari has asked Nigerians to  perish the thought. He says he is as clean as a whistle. He says neither him nor the Police crack team which he heads took a Kobo from Hushpuppi to do their job.

Kyari does not, however, deny having had any relationship with Hushpuppi.  From his reaction, the relationship was, at once, formal and informal.

It began about two years ago when Hushpuppi made a distress call from Dubai and reported that a business partner, Vincent, was threatening to wipe out his (Hushpuppi) family. Kyari said his team took the report serous, and arrested Vincent. He was released, Kyari said, when it was found out that there was no such death threat to Hushpuppi’s family.

But the relationship then moved to informal when Hushpuppi saw the photographs of the top Cop, wearing traditional dresses and the caps to match.

Hushpuppi loved them, and contacted Kyari, saying  he loved them.  Kyari’s tailor was, therefore, contacted, and he made sets of the dresses for Hushpuppi, and delivered to Kyari’s office.

Kyari: “He saw some of my native clothes and Caps on my Social media page, and he said he likes them, and he was connected to the person selling the clothes and he sent about N300k directly to the person’s account. The native clothes and caps (5 sets), were brought to our office and he sent somebody to collect them in our office.”

Following is the full text of Kyari’s response as carried on his Facebook page, Thursday morning.

“Friends: Abbas who we later came to know as Hushpuppi called our office about 2years ago that somebody in Nigeria seriously threatened to kill his family here in Nigeria and he sent the person’s phone number and pleaded we take action before the person attacks his family.

We traced and arrested the Suspect and after investigations we discovered there wasn’t an actual threat to anyone’s life

“And they are long time friends who have money issues between them hence we released the Suspect on bail to go and he was not taken to any jail.

“Nobody demanded for a kobo from Abbas Hushpuppi. Our focus was to save people’s lives that were purported to have been threatened.

“Later, he saw some of my Native Clothes and Caps on my social media page and he said he likes them and he was connected to the person selling the clothes and he sent about N300k directly to the person’s account. The Native Clothes and Caps (5 sets) were brought to our office and he sent somebody to Collect them in our office.

“Nobody demanded any money from Abbas Hushpuppi and nobody collected any money from him. We responded to a distress call he made on threat to his family and released the Suspect when we discovered there was no life threat from the Suspect.

“This is the true story. Vincent is alive, he can be contacted.

“For those who are celebrating that this is an indictment on us and mentioning some fictitious Big Money, They will be disappointed once again as our hands are clean and our record of service for two decades is open for everybody to see.

“They will continue seeing us serving our fatherland and we will continue responding to ALL distress Calls from ALL Nigerians provided they are life threatening.

“For Good Nigerians who appreciate our Service please don’t worry as our hands are clean and they should please not respond to those celebrating and creating many false narratives without any evidence. We are used to such types of people and false newsmakers and distributors.

“Thank you all and GOD bless Nigeria”

It is not known if Kyari and his team knew Hushpuppi’s reputation as a fraudster before they began any dealings with him.

There has been no reaction, so far, by the Police High Command since the Abba Kyari scandal broke.