Panel grills Kyari, as Nigerians knock cop for deleting Facebook post

The Special Investigation Panel (SIP) panel set up by the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to probe the allegations leveled against the suspended Supercop, Abba Kyari, Wednesday interrogated him for a second time.

The four-man panel, being headed by DIG Joseph Egbunike, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in-charge of the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), is probing the allegation that Kyari was bribed by suspected billionaire fraudster, Abbas Ramon, also known as Hushpuppi.

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Kyari, who is now on suspension following an indictment by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), on Wednesday, added a new twist to the bribery allegation against him when he edited and later deleted a post about his relationship with Hushpuppi.

A senior police officer at force headquarters where the sitting was held said Kyari was put on the ‘hot seat’ by members of the panel, adding that the probe panel was taking the allegations against him by the FBI one after the other.

He said, “Nigerians and the world at large are keenly watching how the Nigerian police will treat the matter. So, members of the panel are taking their time to investigate the matter thoroughly without any sentiment.”

Daily Trust reports that the super cop had said based on Hushpuppi’s complaint a suspect was arrested and later released when it was discovered he was innocent.

He had denied collecting any money from the suspected fraudster who is being tried in the United States, narrating how he connected him (Hushpuppi) to a fabric dealer whom Hushpuppi paid about N300,000.

A few days later, when a report emerged that Hushpuppi paid N8 million to Kyari altered his initial post in an attempt to clear his name.

He had expunged the part of linking his tailor to Hushpuppi over a N300, 000 deal and explained that Hushpuppi reached his team to help recover N8 million from someone. In the post, which has now been deleted, Kyari maintained that he never got a dime from Hushpuppi.

The cop, however, took down the post after a huge backlash. But Nigerians on Social Media further took a swipe at him following the deletion of his earlier post.

Reacting, journalist Gimba Kakanda tweeted, “As at last night, DCP Abba Kyari had edited his Facebook statement a record 12 times. He edited out his role as a Kaftan plug for Hushpuppi and wrote that he’s a mere debt collector; a more incriminating role. This morning, he deleted the entire post. This man isn’t smart at all.