Metro

Nigeria’s Attorney General, Malami, denies exonerating alleged corrupt super cop, Abba Kyari

Published

1 year ago

March 14, 2022

The Nigerian Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Sunday said that he has not exonerated Abba Kyari, a suspended deputy commissioner of police, of complicity in the $1.1 million money laundering scheme spearheaded by Ramon Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi.

The Minister of Justice, who was responding to a Nigeria’s Punch Newspaper report that he was plotting to save Kyari, said he had only advised the police to carry out further investigation to link the senior police officer to the crime.

He called the case a work in progress.

The Nigeria’s newspaper reported that Malami had, weeks after asking the police to probe the proceeds of the crime received by Mr Kyari, made a U-turn in second legal advice that there was no evidence against him.

But reacting to the report, Malami’s spokesperson said in the statement, “Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN has described as false the media reports that his Office had conclusively exonerated Abba Kyari.”

Gwandu said there “appears to be misunderstanding regarding the issue”, adding, “It was a case of work in progress in respect of which the office of the Attorney General of the federation requested for further probe in relation to some aspects of investigation.”

He added that “It was clear that the conclusion on the alleged contradiction on the issue was a clear case of misconception.

The office of the Attorney -General of the Federation and Minister of Justice’s stance is that no conclusion has been reached in the direction of absence of evidence relating to the first report.

“The issues were raised for further investigation with a view to cover the field in investigation in order to arrive at informed decision.”

Malami maintained that “no conclusion has been reached in the direction of the absence of evidence relating to the First Report”.

Metro

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

Published

19 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.