‘Fundamental procedural lapses’ CNG petitions US over Abba Kyari, demands fair trial

The Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, has petitioned the United States government, demanding fairness from the Joe Biden-led administration in the matter involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI and suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari.

The group, which expressed worry over the trajectory around Kyari’s case, also asked the US not to discountenance the Nigeria’s ability to protect Kyari’s legal rights.

Recall that the FBI had sought Abba Kyari’s extradition to the US to face trial over his connection with a $1.1m scam allegedly coordinated by a self-confessed internet fraudster, Ramon Abbas a.k.a. Hushpuppi

The CNG petition, dated August 15, 2021, was signed by the spokesman of the group, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman.

It partly reads, “We note a number of “fundamental procedural lapses in the conduct of the investigation, which tend not only to threaten the sovereign status of Nigeria, but also infringe on its citizen’s rights and civil liberties; threatens the rule of law and confronts the humanity and civilization that the people United States of America stands for.

“We also note that the FBI might have breached another fundamental criminal justice procedure by not according Mr Kyari the benefit of being heard before going ahead with the purported indictment by an American Court in the US for an offence purportedly committed in Nigeria, triable under Nigerian laws, by Nigerian courts and on Nigerian land.

“A breach of decorum and the negligence of the procedure might have also occurred when the FBI hurriedly published the purported indictment online without first intimating the Nigerian authorities and hearing the accused’s case,” the petition said.

The CNG cited Articles 6 and 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right, Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which affirms that everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

“Let it also be clear that there is a mounting public concern that the action of the FBI could suggest that the US might willfully be participating in Nigeria’s current political chase game and playing the card of the gang-up of regional and ethnic propagandists against northern interests.

“It is therefore important that our friends in the US understand what a destabilised Nigeria will mean to the entire sub-Saharan region. As the most populous country on the continent and one that continues to influence peace and stability across the sub-continent, any breakdown of law and order will further make dangerous the situation in terms of regional security, international cohesion, migration and other challenges that will affect Africa and beyond.

“We are also committed to engaging with our international friends and partners based on mutual respect, harmony, international order, and the principles of sovereignty.”

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