From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Respite may have come for suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, as 31 lawyers drawn from the 19 Northern states have volunteered to offer free legal services for him in the United States.
Recall that a District Court in the United States had ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to arrest Kyari for allegedly arresting and torturing one Vincent Chibuzor, on the behest of Ramon Abbas popularly known as Hushpuppi, after the latter threatened to expose a $1 million fraud committed against a Qatari businessman.
Hushpuppi is standing trial for money laundering and internet fraud which he has pleaded guilty.
Speaking on behalf of the lawyers, Barr Sunusi Bappah Salisu, yesterday, in Abuja, noted that they took up the task for “the preservation of Mr. Kyari’s fundamental rights that may be potentially jeopardised by his alleged indictment by a court in the United States of America.”
He said they would critically review the procedures adopted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to get the US Court to indict Kyari on allegations of involvement in charges filed against a suspected fraudster, Hushpuppi.
Salisu said: “In apparent response to recent calls for support for Abba Kyari by the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), a group of about 31 young northern Nigerian lawyers has volunteered to render legal services to the embattled Deputy Commissioner of Police.
“We would raise questions involving the possibility of the occasioning of breaches to Kyari’s fundamental rights entrenched in Articles 6 and 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right, which essentially state that every individual shall have the right to liberty and to the security of his person and every individual shall have the right to have his cause heard. This comprises: ‘The right to an appeal to competent national organs against acts of violating his fundamental rights as recognised and guaranteed by conventions, laws, regulations and customs in force.”