This opinion was first published on Vanguard

It’s a big surprise for many Nigerians when they first heard the news of Hushpuppi whose real name is Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, currently facing prosecution in the United States of America, accusing Abba Kyari, Nigeria’s celebrated super cop, as one of the beneficiaries of the $1.1million loot received from a Qatari businessman.

For some, it’s not really a surprise as the Nigeria Police Force over the years have been known for corruption while others see the development as a big blow on the image of Nigeria as one of Africa’s most respected countries. Imagine seeing one of your best police chiefs rightly called out by a US district court in a money laundering case involving a ‘Big Alhaji’ (as our Chinese brothers fondly called Nigerian fraudsters) whose has been known for his flamboyant lifestyles.

The current predicament of Kyari can be best described as the case of ‘the hunter that is being hunted’ and it will take only the grace and benevolence of Buhari’s regime to save him from this doom that is imminent.

Going through the antecedent to the Hushpuppi vs Kyari saga, the former according to the police chief called him 2 years back that somebody in Nigeria seriously threatened to kill his family in Nigeria and it’s on this premise he started building relationship with him (Hushpuppi).

According to Kyari, “He (Hushpuppi) saw some of my native clothes and caps on my social media page and he said he likes them and he was connected to the person selling the clothes and he sent about N300k directly to the person’s account. The native clothes and caps (5 sets) were brought to our office and he sent somebody to collect them in our office. Nobody demanded any money from Abbas Hushpuppi and nobody collected any money from him.”

However, Kyari admitted to knowing about the money-related dispute between Hushpuppi and his colleague (Vincent), claiming it was on the basis of the call that latter was arrested but later released when they (police) discovered there was no life threat from the suspect.

A careful look at Kyari’s line of thoughts show that he actually had conversation with Hushpuppi and it bothers on money aside the fact he claimed the money was transferred to a third party, but the question is, what has Belial got to do with Christ? The Biblical rhetoric should form a basis for one to properly dissect the dichotomy between celeb Hushmoney and super cop Kyari’s sins. Could it be that the latter is just a middleman between the embattled Nigerian socialite (Hushpuppi) and his accomplice? Why would a celebrated police chief highly respected by Nigerians stoop so low to start up an informal conversation with a suspect fraudster in the first in stance though he (Kyari) claimed it’s before his arrest? There’s more to this whole saga than meets the eye.

Abba Kyari, in the wake of this allegation, must either prove his innocence or otherwise face the consequences for his sins should in case he is declared guilty.

Kyari’s case is one too many. Hope the power that be won’t upturn justice to favour their own just as in the case with Papa P, but truth will always prevail in the long run. As it stands right now, Kyari is just a suspect until found guilty by a competent court. The world is watching!

Arogbonlo Israel is a journalist and good governance advocate

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