Presidential pardon: Dalung demands release of Abba Kyari

The Movement for the Emancipation of Nigeria has called for the immediate discontinuation of the prosecution of suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari and urged that he be released without delay.

In a press statement issued on Tuesday by its Comrade General, former sports minister Solomon Dalung, MEN said Kyari’s continued detention amounted to a “grave injustice” in light of recent presidential pardons granted to convicts, many of whom the group says were arrested by Kyari’s team.

“The Movement for the Emancipation of Nigeria (MEN) observes with deep concern the continued detention and prosecution of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari despite recent presidential pardons extended to convicted drug traffickers, fraudsters, kidnappers, and bandits—many of whom were arrested by his team in the line of duty,” the statement read.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency arraigned Kyari and six others in March 2022 on allegations of conspiring to tamper with and traffic 21.35 kilograms of cocaine seized from suspected drug traffickers.

Last week, President Bola Tinubu granted presidential pardons to 175 persons, including the late nationalist, Herbert Macaulay, the late Major General Mamman Vatsa, and Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death for murdering her husband.

Presenting the full list of beneficiaries in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Saturday, said the decision followed recommendations by the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).

The pardon also includes presidential clemency, which frees people convicted of offences ranging from homicide, illegal mining to fraud.

In the statement, MEN described the selective application of clemency as a “ridicule of the principle of fairness” and argued that it stripped the moral and legal basis for Kyari’s prosecution.

The organisation said, “The recent wave of presidential amnesties and pardons has effectively emptied the moral and legal basis for Kyari’s continued detention.

“His prosecution under such circumstances represents a double standard that undermines the integrity of Nigeria’s justice system.”

The group warned that sustaining the case would set a dangerous precedent and could discourage public officers from actively combating crime.

“MEN views this as a clear case of institutional betrayal against a man who once risked his life in the service of national security and public order. Justice demands consistency, and equity demands that mercy must not be reserved for the guilty while punishment is sustained against the righteous,” it said.

The organisation therefore urged “the President and the Attorney-General of the Federation to discontinue all charges against DCP Abba Kyari and secure his immediate release.

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“Anything short of this will amount to a travesty of justice and a dangerous precedent that discourages public officers from dedicating themselves to the fight against crime,” it added.

Kyari, a former head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the police, has a long service record of arresting suspects, which earned him the nickname “super cop” and multiple awards.

He was arrested on 14 February 2022 after the NDLEA declared him wanted over allegations of conspiring to tamper with and traffic 21.35 kilograms of cocaine seized from suspected drug traffickers.

He pleaded not guilty.