Nigerians on social media have described as weak the rebuttal issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Abba Kyari, to allegations linking him with Instagram celebrity, Abbas Ramoni aka Hushpuppi.
The United States District Court for the Central District of California had accused Kyari of arresting one Chibuzo Vincent on the order of Hushpuppi on grounds that he threatened to expose the $1m defrauding of a Qatari businessman.
Kyari also allegedly sent bank account details to Hushpuppi into which the Instagram celebrity could deposit payment for Vincent’s arrest and imprisonment.
The allegation was swiftly denied by Kyari who took to Facebook with an explanation of his dealings with Hushpuppi.
He said, “Abbas who we later came to know as Hushpuppi called our office about two years ago that somebody in Nigeria Seriously threatened to kill his family here in Nigeria and he sent the person’s phone number and pleaded we take action before the person attacks his family.
“We traced and arrested the suspect and after investigations we discovered there wasn’t an actual threat to anyone’s life and they are long time friends who have money issues between them, hence we released the suspect on bail to go and he was not taken to any jail.
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“Nobody demanded for a kobo from Abbas Hushpuppi. Our focus was to save people’s lives that were purported to have been threatened.
“Later, he saw some of my native clothes and caps on my social media page and he said he likes them. He was connected to the person selling the clothes and he sent about N300k directly to the person’s account. The native clothes and caps (five sets) were brought to our office and he sent somebody to collect them in our office.
“Nobody demanded any money from Abbas Hushpuppi and nobody collected any money from him. We responded to a distress call he made on threat to his family and released the suspect when we discovered there was no life threat from the suspect. This is the true story. Vincent is alive, he can be contacted.”
Kyari’s rebuttal was, however, not bought by many of those who dropped a comment on his Facebook page.
According to one Oluwa Dare, “Yeah, right. You helped him ‘buy clothes’. You must think everyone is dumb. You as a police officer should know that won’t fly. 2019 was just one year before he was arrested and there have been question marks about him before then. Anyways, if you are an honorable man, you should resign and go clear your name in the US if you’re that sure you are not part of his organization by being the ‘muscle’ he used to intimidate people back in Nigeria.”
Felix Uroko urged the top cop to step down for the allegation to be properly investigated.
He said, “In a sane clime, you would step aside for proper investigation, coming to the social media to try and defend yourself is total rubbish.”
Kyari’s reaction to the allegation was described as too weak by Abdulwaheed Dauda.
He said, “At the mention of your name by Hushpuppi, my first reaction was to dismiss it as one of the kicks of the dying horse. Moreover, I would have denied the rebuttal, if it was from the page of another person. However, since it’s coming from you, it is rather too weak, wack and left too much room for suspicions. Your response evoked much more questions than you attempted to clarify. I know for certainty, we have not seen the end of this case, but I pray you come out with unscathed image.”
