Hushpuppi: U.S govt reacts to rejection of Abba Kyari’s extradition

Ilesanmi AdekanbiAugust 30, 2022

2 minutes read

The United States Government has reacted to the rejection of the application by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s Government seeking permission to extradite the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police DCP, Abba Kyari to the United States of America (USA).

Newsflash Nigeria had reported that the Nigerian’s Attorney General acting on behalf of the Nigerian Government filed the extradition charges against Kyari to pave the way for his extradition to the USA to face trial over his alleged involvement with a notorious internet fraudster, Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi.

Hushpuppi had in the USA implicated Kyari in a $1.1million wire fraud prompting the American government to request the extradition of Kyari to explain his own side of the story.

The AGF, Abubakar Malami (SAN) filed the extradition charges under the Extradition Act and it is marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/249/2022.

In April 2021, a jury in America filed an indictment against Kyari with the approval of the US District Court and demanded that Kyari should stand trial for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft.

Consequently, the American embassy requested Kyari’s extradition saying, “on April 29, 2021, based on the indictment filed by the Grand Jury and with the approval of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, a Deputy Clerk of the court issued a warrant of arrest for Kyari.

“Kyari is the subject of an indictment in case number 2:21-cr-00203 (also referred to as 2:21-mj-00760 and 2:21-cr-00203-rgk), filed April 29, 2021, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.”

Malami had while filing the charge said that the request for the surrender of Kyari was not made to persecute or punish him on account of his race, religion, nationality or political opinions but in good faith and in the interest of justice.

In a judgement on Monday, Justice Inyang Ekwo ruled that the extradition application filed by the government through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice was “incompetent and bereft of merit.”

According to the judge, the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, ought to be aware that the Extradition Act forbade the surrendering of a defendant that is already facing trial before a competent court in the country.

He said the law was clear that Kyari, having been docked before a court of competent jurisdiction in the country, “shall not be surrendered until such case has been discharged either by his conviction or acquittal.”

Consequently, the court held that the extradition request was incompetent and deserved to be dismissed.

Reacting to the development, the spokesperson, US Department of Justice’s Senior Communications Advisor for International Law Enforcement, Nicole Oxman, said the US government does not comment on the case until Kyari is successfully extradited.

In a short statement on Monday made this known in an email to The PUNCH, the US Department of Justice said as a matter of policy, it would not comment on extradition-related matters until Kyari is successfully extradited.

Oxman wrote, “As a matter of policy, the US Department of Justice generally does not comment on extradition-related matters until a defendant is in the United States.”