Suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, has allegedly escaped being killed by inmates of Kuje Prison, where he is remanded awaiting trial for alleged drug related offenses.
After he was allegedly nearly murdered by enraged inmates who accused him of insincerity in bribe-for-release transactions while in active service, jail officials are said to be considering shifting him to the custody of the State Security Service (SSS).
The attack reportedly occurred on May 4, months after Kyari, who is on trial for drug-related offenses, was remanded.
According to an official, his assailants numbered over 190, the majority of whom were incarcerated for narcotics offenses, on Kyari’s doing.
Before his arrest, Kyari, a deputy commissioner of police, was a decorated cop and the head of the Inspector-General Police’s special Intelligence Response Team.
During the course of the investigations in July 2021, Kyari was suspended from police duty after being named as a collaborator in a worldwide fraud and money laundering racket by international fraudster, Ramon Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi, by American investigators.
Furthermore, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) accused him of being involved in a drug trafficking conspiracy in February 2022, while he was on suspension awaiting the outcome of an internal investigation.
It was revealed that Kyari appeared to be engaged in drug trafficking, together with suspected police colleagues, in a video provided by the agency.
In March, he was charged to court and remanded in Kuje jail.
According to the report, the Kuje assailants said Kyari prosecuted them despite collecting bribes from them.
However, a spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service, Mr. Francis Enobore, denied knowledge of the attack on Kyari.
Nonetheless, officials are reported to have retrieved Kyari and placed him in an isolated cell “under severe protection where no one may see him for fear of attack or poisoning.”