Presidential Pardons: Group Demands Discontinuation of Drug Trafficking Trial of Suspended DCP Kyari

A group known as Movement for the Emancipation of Nigeria (MEN) is calling for discontinuation of the prosecution of former head of the IGP Intelligence Response Team, ABBA KYARI. The Suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police is facing criminal charges involving drug trafficking in connection to the smuggling of 17.55 kilograms of cocaine intercepted at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu. The MEN said in view of recent presidential pardons extended to convicted drug traffickers, fraudsters, kidnappers, and bandits — many of whom were arrested by DCP Kyari’s team in the line of duty, there was no moral justification to keep him in detention. In a statement signed by Solomon Dalung, the Comrade General of Movement for the Emancipation of Nigeria, the group expressed the view that the “selective application of clemency amounts to grave injustice and ridicule of the principle of fairness. If notorious criminals have been deemed worthy of pardon, it is morally indefensible to continue the persecution of an officer whose only crime was his patriotic zeal to combat the same menace now being rewarded by the state.” The MEN further noted that 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” it noted. “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. “In the spirit of fairness, national healing, and genuine reconciliation, MEN therefore calls on the President and the Attorney-General of the Federation to discontinue all charges against DCP Abba Kyari and secure his immediate release. 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.”