The irrefutable crimes of DCP Abba Kyari

In recent years, Abba Kyari, the decorated Nigerian Deputy Commissioner of Police, rode with glee, the wave of his high-profile billing as a super cop who busted criminals. To many, he was the Nigerian answer to Jack Bauer, the Kiefer Sutherland’s character in Fox TV’s series, “24”. To others, he was at best Detective Alonzo Harris, Denzel Washington’s character in the movie “Training Day.”

Watching from a distance, one could see that the hype had already gotten into Abba Kyari’s head, even when he had not spent a decade on that pedestal. The prospects of him becoming a future Inspector General of Police in Nigeria brought chills down the spines of those who knew the true story of the FBI’s most famous director, John Edgar Hoover.

Without prejudice to the FBI charges against DCP Abba Kyari, the real crimes committed by the man are the same ones often committed by Nigeria’s ruling elite. Despite their education and training at home and abroad, they all seem to dismiss these crimes as minor and irrelevant. But upon close examination, we see that they are the roots of the bigger crimes that inevitably follow.

The first and most common one is conflict of interest. Abba Kyari, as a police officer, could not smell a conflict of interest even when it is an inch from his nose. He would hang around every character in the Nigerian…