Hushpuppi: Group Petitions US, Alleges Lapses in Kyari’s Investigation

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has petitioned the United
States(US) Embassy, Abuja where it lamented what it described as
‘fundamental procedural lapses’ in the conduct of the investigation
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on the suspended
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari.

The petition signed by CNG’s Spokesperson, Mr. Abdul-Azeez
Suleiman and served on the American Embassy in Abuja on Saturday,
August 14, a copy of which was made available to THISDAY on Sunday,
said it did not deny the FBI or any other police organisation for
that matter, to investigate crimes, but expressed worry by the
trajectory introduced around Kyari’s case.

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 proven guilty according to law in a public trial at which he
has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

It pointed out that the FBI might have invariably breached the
standard legal and diplomatic practice by neglecting to contact
either the Nigerian High Commission in the US or the Nigerian
authorities through the FBI liaison offices based in Nigeria before
going ahead to file for indictment of Kyari.

It noted: “A noted 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 civilisation 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 negligence of procedure might have also
occurred when the FBI hurriedly published the purported indictment
online without first intimating the Nigerian authorities and
hearing the accused case.”

The CNG, however, warned that FBI intervention, and actions
should not be drawn to discountenance the right of the Nigerian
state to protect the legal rights of its citizens

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has petitioned the United
States(US) Embassy, Abuja where it lamented what it described as
‘fundamental procedural lapses’ in the conduct of the investigation
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on the suspended
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari.

The petition signed by CNG’s Spokesperson, Mr. Abdul-Azeez
Suleiman and served on the American Embassy in Abuja on Saturday,
August 14, a copy of which was made available to THISDAY on Sunday,
said it did not deny the FBI or any other police organisation for
that matter, to investigate crimes, but expressed worry by the
trajectory introduced around Kyari’s case.

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 proven guilty according to law in a public trial at which he
has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

It pointed out that the FBI might have invariably breached the
standard legal and diplomatic practice by neglecting to contact
either the Nigerian High Commission in the US or the Nigerian
authorities through the FBI liaison offices based in Nigeria before
going ahead to file for indictment of Kyari.

It noted: “A noted 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 civilisation 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 negligence of procedure might have also
occurred when the FBI hurriedly published the purported indictment
online without first intimating the Nigerian authorities and
hearing the accused case.”

The CNG, however, warned that FBI intervention, and actions
should not be drawn to discountenance the right of the Nigerian
state to protect the legal rights of its citizens