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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
DCP Abba Kyari has been commended for the conviction of notorious kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Bala, popularly known as Wadume, and two others, to seven years imprisonment.
A Federal High Court Abuja led by Justice Binta Nyako had convicted Wadume of two of the 13-count charges against him and two others.
A statement issued in Abuja by the Initiative for Better Societal Enlightenment (IBSE) said that Kyari deserves commendation for ensuring that “Wadume would no longer be a threat to innocent people as he is now cooling his heels in prison.”
The statement signed by the group’s Executive Director, Ofilli Odey, argued that if people like Kyari could man various leadership positions, “Nigeria will be progressing.”
Odey further noted that “Nigerians must commend Kyari because, in the wider context, he is more Nigerian than today’s leaders.
“Someone like Kyari would have compromised because Wadume is very rich and influential and was ready to pay whatever amount but Kyari stood his ground. Today justice is served.
“He also did not compromise in the arrest of another dangerous Kidnap kingpin, Evans who offered Kyari $3 million to be quietly kept in a hotel for three days and after payment of the $3 million, he should be released to go but Kyari rejected the offer and reported the arrest to his boss, the then IGP Ibrahim Idris, who ordered the Police Public Relations Officer to release the arrest to the public.
“If Kyari had accepted that offer from Evans, he would have released Evans quietly without anybody knowing to continue his kidnappings and nobody would have known about the arrest since the Nigerian government or police authority did not provide any funds for the manhunt for Evans. The whole operation which took several months from beginning to end was funded by Kyari.
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“Likewise, Kyari has not compromised any of the thousands of armed robbers, kidnappers, terrorists, and murderers that he arrested all across the country without government funding.
“Kyari would have been very rich if he had collected money and released these dangerous criminals back to society quietly because they were all ready to pay whatever amount to be released quietly without members of the public knowing.
“If there is a single Kidnapper, terrorist, bandit, armed robber, murderer etc among the thousands Kyari arrested, collected a dime and released, let that person be brought to national television to testify.
“This is the type of sacrifice this young man made for his country for two decades, which resulted in all the awards and commendations he got, which attracted lots of envy and enemies to him,” Odey said.
Expressing disappointment that the prosecution may have failed to pursue a good case, which resulted in the light sentence, Odey however said; “what we can take away from the sentence is that, Wadume has been jailed.
“The federal government can also appeal the judgement to seek better judgement so that notorious criminals like Wadume can get the type of judgement they deserve.
“Keeping someone many people say is innocent in prison without bail for allegations that are bailable in law, is not good for the psyche of Nigerians and other uniform personnel serving the nation. If somebody like Kyari, who gave his all for Nigeria is being treated this way because of a clear set-up by envious colleagues and media trial, they will equally be treated like that by some mischief forces no matter the sacrifice they make for their country.
“Fighting crime especially high-level crime is not easy. That is why Kyari has a lot of enemies. We all know one does not need to commit the wrong thing before being implicated. People can easily set you up even if you do your job diligently especially when your achievements are all over the country.
“It is worse because of the recognitions and awards from the presidency, National Assembly etc like no other person in the history of Nigeria. That alone will attract so much enemies and envious colleagues planning against him,” the statement read.
