The #EndSARS panel investigating cases of police brutality in Abuja, on Friday, ordered the National Drug Control Agency (NDLEA) to present Abba Kyari for a complaint of enforced disappearance of three persons made against his former police unit.
The missing persons, Danjuma Yakubu, Ibrahim Daniel and Choji Dung, were reportedly arrested in 2019 by officers of the Inspector General Police Intelligence Response Team (IGP-IRT), which was then led by Mr. Kyari.
The relatives, who petitioned the panel about the alleged disappearance of the three men, said they had not seen the victims since their arrest by the IGP-IRT in Adamawa, Gombe and Plateau states in December 2019.
Mr. Kyari, deputy commissioner of police, led the IGP-IRT until he was suspended last year after US authorities accused him of an international fraudulent scheme.
While still serving his suspension, the police officer, who has a number of rights violation petitions pending against him and IRT officers before the #EndSARS panel, was arrested for crimes related to cocaine trafficking, while the government Nigerian initiates a demand for his extradition to the US in court.
The NDLEA subsequently charged him and his alleged accomplices with cocaine-related offenses in the Federal High Court in Abuja.
On March 7, the NDLEA indicted him along with six co-defendants, including four IRT members.
After the arraignment, the judge, Emeka Nwite, ordered Mr. Kyari and the other defendants to remain in the custody of the NDLEA.
Why the #EndSARS panel ordered the NDLEA to produce Kyari
Besieged SBC Abba Kyari
As in many petitions on police brutality brought before the #EndSARS panel, Mr. Kyari’s name has been mentioned in connection with the disappearance of the three victims whom relatives said they had seen after IRT officers arrested them. in 2019.
Earlier on Tuesday, the panel ordered police to present the three men on Friday.
But at Friday’s hearing, police attorney James Idachaba told the panel he had been unable to obtain details of his whereabouts.
Regarding his efforts to track them down, Idachaba said he was at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) to track their records when Police Deputy Inspector General Joseph Egbunike collapsed and died, so he was unable to get any information.
He added that the IGP-IRT that allegedly arrested the victims had been disbanded, further aggravating the search for the victims.
“We have not been able to obtain details about the whereabouts of the three people allegedly detained.
“We all know that the IRT itself has been disbanded and we don’t know which of the places these detainees are in, if they are in custody,” the lawyer said.
Responding to questions from panel member John Aikpokpo-Martins, who chaired Friday’s proceedings, Idachaba said a member of his team, Malik Taiwo, also checked the IRT’s former detention facilities and was unable to find any of them. the three people arrested.
On that basis, the panel directed the NDLEA president, who currently has custody of Mr. Kyari, to present him on March 22. One of the petitioners said that Mr. Kyari had promised to help find the families in 2019.
“The panel hereby directs the chairman of the NDLEA to present Abba Kyari before the panel on March 22,” Aikpokpo-Martins, who acted as chairman of the panel, ordered Friday.
Mr. Aikpokpo-Martins also reiterated the panel’s previous orders to the police to produce detainees and provide documents to assist their investigations.
Background
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the families of Messrs. Yakubu, Daniel, and Choji Dung jointly petitioned the panel for their disappearance.
Ismail Mairungo, brother of Messrs. Yakubu and Daniel, as well as Blessing Choji-Dung, wife of Mr. Dung, appeared before the #EndSARS panel on March 3 to testify about their joint petition.
During their separate testimonies, the petitioners appealed to the panel to help secure the release of their relatives from unlawful police detention.
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They recalled how IGP-IRT operatives allegedly arrested Messrs. Yakubu and Daniel, in Jada, Adamawa State, and Todi, Gombe State, respectively, on December 13, 2019.
They said that Ms. Choji-Dung’s husband, Choji Dung, who was said to be a friend of Mr. Yakubu, was arrested on December 17, 2019 in Buruku, Plateau State.
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Mr. Mairungo and Ms. Choji-Dung had pleaded with the panel to order the unconditional release of their family members and award compensation of N10 million to each of them allegedly detained by the IRT.
Serial rejection of panel summons by Abba Kyari
Friday was not the first time Mr. Kyari has been ordered to appear or appear before the panel to respond to a series of petitions against him or the IRT.
But Kyari has not complied with any of the panel’s calls.
In November last year, long before his NDLEA ordeal began, the panel ordered Mr. Kyari to appear in connection with the case of Morris Ashwe, who was said to have disappeared after his arrest by NDLEA officers. IRT in Makurdi, Benue state, on May 1. 2018.
The alleged victim’s brother, Raphael Ashwe, who requested the panel, said Morris was detained and displayed at a police station in Makurdi after his arrest.
He added that the family had access to the detainee until he was transferred to Abuja two days after the parade.
According to him, the family has made several appeals and sent many letters to the IRT, asking for information on the whereabouts of his older brother, all without success.
Mr. Kyari, who specifically joined as a defendant in the case, was scheduled to appear before the panel on November 26, but never showed up.
The 11-man Independent Inquiry Panel was established by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) following the October 2020 #EndSARS protest against police brutality, to investigate petitions from victims of rights violations perpetrated against them by the defunct Special Anti-Robnery Squad (SARS), and other police units.
The panel is expected to recommend victim compensation and sanctions and criminal prosecution against police officers who made mistakes in deserving cases by the end of its hearing.