Metro

DRUG TRAFFICKING: Court denies Nigeria’s suspended ‘super-cop’, Abba Kyari, fingered by FBI, bail

Published

1 year ago

March 28, 2022

The ordeal of Nigeria’s ex-super cop, Abba Kyari continues as Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday refused to grant bail to the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police.

Mr. Kyari and six others have been arraigned by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over alleged drug trafficking offences after the agency released video evidences of Mr. Kyari attempting to sell seized drugs and attempting to bribe an official of the anti-drug agency in February.

The Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) indicted the highly decorated officer making an arrest at the request of fraudster – Ramon Abbas, who has pleaded guilty to money laundering, according to the US Justice Department.

Since the FBI’s revelation, the possibility of having Kyari extradited to the United States to face charges has been a subject of controversy with Nigeria’s Attorney General, Abubakar Malami caught in the middle of the controversy with confusing and inconsistent stands.

At the court hearing today, the NDLEA argued that it was inappropriate to grant bail to the applicant because of the facts and circumstances of the case. NDLEA believes that the medical challenges which the applicant (Kyari) based his bail request on were not beyond the capacity of the agency’s medical personnel.

The anti-narcotic agency described Kyari as “a flight risk”, arguing that if granted bail, the suspended DCP might escape and interfere with the evidence if granted bail, urging the court to dismiss Kyari’s bail plea.

The judge, in the ruling, aligned with NDLEA’s arguments and dismissed the request. He also ordered the transfer of Kyari and his co-defendants to Kuje Prison in Abuja.

Related Topics:Abba Kyari Featured Nigerian Police

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Metro

Rwandan President, Kagame sacks over 200 military personnel in major shake-up

Published

18 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame has sacked over 200 soldiers including top military brass and commanders from the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) in a massive shake-up.

The dismissed officers include the former Commander of the Reserve Forces, Maj. Gen. Aloys Muganga, and Brig. Gen. Francis Mutiganda, a former Head of External Security in the National Intelligence Services, as well as 14 senior officers.

The announcement of the sacking of the officers which was contained in a statement released by the RDF on Wednesday, did not give reason for the sackings, but the move come a day after the president reshuffled the top echelon of the country’s military, which saw the firing of the Defence Minister and an Army Chief.

The sacking of the soldiers has further heightened tension between Rwanda and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, with each side accusing the other of working with rebels to topple one another’s governments, according to reports in local media.

Metro

UN war crimes court declares Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga unfit to stand trial

Published

19 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

An 88-year-old Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga has been declared unfit to stand trial by judges at a United Nations War Crimes Court in The Hague.

In a decision published by the court on Wednesday, the judges acknowledged that Kabuga was no longer able to actively participate in his trial, and rather proposed an alternative process that aims to resemble a trial but does not allow for a conviction instead of stopping the proceedings completely.

“The trial chamber finds Mr. Kabuga is no longer capable of meaningful participation in his trial,” the publication said.

“The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, therefore, finds that Mr. Kabuga is not fit for trial and is very unlikely to regain fitness in the future.

“It is therefore agreed to adopt an alternative finding procedure that resembles a trial as closely as possible, but without the possibility of a conviction,” it added.

Kabuga who was arrested in Paris where he had been in hiding under a false identity for several years, was one of the most wanted suspects of the Rwandan genocide, and was charged at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda with genocide and crimes against humanity.

At his initial arraignment in September last year, the ICC heard that Kabuga was alleged to have been the main financier of the ethnic Hutu militias who slaughtered over 800,000 minority Tutsis as well as political opponents during the genocide in 1994.

According to the UN, Kabuga, a wealthy businessman from the Hutu ethnic group, had established and financed an infamous media outfit, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), which was notorious for inciting violence and promoting the targeting and elimination of individuals from the Tutsi ethnic group who were referred to as “Cockroaches”.

Kabuga was arrested in Paris in 2020 after decades on the run and sent for trial in The Hague where he pleaded not guilty to charges of sponsoring the infamous Hutu radical radio station urging people to kill Tutsi “cockroaches”.

He also denied supplying machetes and supporting the murderous Interahamwe Hutu militia.