ABUJA (AFP) – A Nigerian court yesterday rejected a request to extradite a suspended police officer to the United States (US) after he was implicated by a social media celebrity in a fraud case.
Deputy Police Commissioner Abba Kyari was suspended after he was implicated in the case of Nigerian social media influencer Ramon Abbas, known as Hushpuppi, who pleaded guilty to money laundering and other crimes in the US.
Kyari’s indictment in the US prompted Nigeria’s attorney-general Abubakar Malami to file an extradition request at the federal high court in Abuja.
Judge Inyang Ekwo dismissed the application yesterday, calling it “strange, incompetent and bereft of merit”.
Kyari is standing trial in Nigeria for an alleged link with drug barons.
The FBI said last year that Hushpuppi’s crimes cost his victims almost USD24 million in total.