The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, has dispatched the Special Investigation Panel report on Abba Kyari’s alleged roles in the $1.1m fraud perpetrated by an Instagram influencer, Abbas Ramon, commonly known as Hushpuppi and four others, to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and the Police Service Commission.

The report, which indicted Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, was received by the AGF office and the PSC last week.

Our correspondent had reported that the SIP Chairman, DIG Joseph Egbunike, submitted the committee’s findings to the IG on August 26, at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, 24 days after the panel was inaugurated.

The report contained the case file of the probe, evidence and findings as well as testimonies from Kyari and other persons and groups linked to the matter.

A Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, Andrew Innocenti, had in a document titled, ‘Criminal Complaint By Telephone Or Other Reliable Electronic Means’ filed before the United States District Court for the Central District of California, alleged that Hushpuppi contracted Kyari to detain a co-conspirator, Chibuzo Vincent, for threatening to expose the alleged $1.1m fraud committed against a Qatari businessman.

The agency also said Hushpuppi paid $20,600 into a bank account provided by Kyari. The court ordered that Kyari be detained for 10 days.

Following the allegations, Kyari was suspended from service on July 31 by the Police Service Commission. He also appeared before the SIP where he was alleged to have denied the allegations.

But giving an update on the case on Saturday, a senior official explained that the IG has directed that the erstwhile Head of the Police Intelligence Response Team should be queried after which he would be referred to the Force Disciplinary Committee which handles cases of misconduct and unprofessional acts by senior officers.

It was gathered that the FDC’s recommendations would be sent to the Police Service Commission, which is expected to determine Kyari’s fate.

Our correspondent was equally informed that the in-house panel set up by the commission to study available documents related to the DCP’s indictment would soon round off its investigation, and submit its findings to the PSC management.

A reliable source stated, “The commission and the AGF got the police report last week but there is nothing for us to do at the moment. The IG has directed that Kyari should be queried. After answering the query, the matter would go to the force disciplinary committee which would make recommendations. The recommendations from the FDC would come to the police service commission and this would form the basis of the commission’s decision.”

The force spokesman, Frank Mba, a Commissioner of Police, promised to provide the status of the case when contacted but he did not respond to further promptings as of press time.

PUNCH

Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano has ordered markets, banks, transport business owners, among others to ignore the sit-at-home order and go about their businesses from Monday, September 13.

The governor gave the order on Saturday after a meeting with stakeholders and members of the State Security Council.

Heads of commercial business operations including markets and transport leaders were also at the meeting held at the governor’s lodge in the state.

He urged residents of the state to ignore the Monday (weekly) sit-at-home order by the leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

“The markets should open, if they do not open, I would sack the leadership of the market and shut the market.

“Invisible voice says ‘sit at home?’ And, you just comply and loose money. You don’t know who says sit-at-home, you just loose money,” the governor said while addressing the business leaders.

He also urged them to help the government to solve the menace of continuous sit-at-home compliance.

Governor Obiano said it is totally unacceptable as it has become inimical to the state’s economy.

“You need to help us to solve this nonsense. It is absolute nonsense. That’s a warning. If you don’t do that, we will change your leadership,” the governor said.

Governor Obiano also at the meeting welcomed the new Commissioner of Police, Tony Olotu, who will take over from the former CP, Chris Owolabi.

Channels TV

America marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11 Saturday with solemn ceremonies given added poignancy by the recent chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and return to power of the Taliban.

Heart-wrenching commemorations will unfold at each of the three sites where 19 Al-Qaeda hijackers — mostly from Saudi Arabia — crashed packed airliners, striking the cultural, financial and political hearts of the United States and changing the world forever.

The memorials come with US troops finally gone from Afghanistan, but national discord — and for President Joe Biden, political peril — are overshadowing any sense of closure.

In a video posted on the eve of the anniversary, Biden urged Americans to show unity, “our greatest strength.”

“To me, that’s the central lesson of September 11th. It’s that at our most vulnerable, in the push and pull of all that makes us human, in the battle for the soul of America, unity is our greatest strength,” Biden said in a six- minute message from the White House.

At New York’s Ground Zero, where two pools of water now stand where the Twin Towers used to, relatives will read out the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed, in a four-hour-long service starting at 8:30 am (1230 GMT).

Six moments of silence will be observed, corresponding with the times the two World Trade Center towers were struck, and fell, and the moments the Pentagon was attacked and Flight 93 crashed.

Monica Iken-Murphy, who lost her 37-year-old husband Michael Iken in the World Trade Center, says this will be a “heightened” anniversary for many Americans.

But for her, as for many other survivors, the pain has never wavered.

“I feel like it just happened,” she told AFP.

A whole generation has grown up since the morning of September 11, 2001.

In the interim, Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden has been hunted down and killed. A towering new sky scraper has risen over Manhattan, replacing the Twin Towers. And less than two weeks ago, the last US soldiers flew from Kabul airport, ending the so-called “forever war.”

But the Taliban who once sheltered bin Laden are back ruling Afghanistan, the mighty US military humiliated. In Guantanamo Bay, accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men continue to await trial, nine years after charges were filed.

Even the full story of how the attack came to happen remains secret. Only last week did Biden order the release of classified documents from the FBI investigation over the next six months.

– ‘Honor and memorialize’ -At Ground Zero, 2,753 people, from all over the world, were killed in the initial explosions, jumped to their deaths, or simply vanished in the inferno of the collapsing towers.

At the Pentagon, an airliner tore a fiery hole in the side of the superpower’s military nerve center, killing 184 people in the plane and on the ground.

And in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the third wave of hijackers crashed into a field after passengers fought back, sending United 93 down before reaching its intended target — likely the US Capitol building in Washington.

Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will stop at each of these places on Saturday to “honor and memorialize the lives lost,” the White House said.

In his video address Friday night, Biden urged Americans to come together as they reflect on the tragedy.

“Unity doesn’t mean we have to believe the same thing, but we must have a fundamental respect and faith in each other and in this nation,” Biden said.

The president had planned for this to be a pivotal day in his nearly eight-month-old presidency.

However, instead of presiding over a moment of unity, Biden will traverse a country angry about the messy Kabul evacuation, which included 13 US soldiers killed by a suicide bomber, and stung by the broader realization of failure and defeat.

For the relatives of victims, the anniversary, as always, is about keeping the memory of their loved ones alive.

“It’s like Pearl Harbor,” said Frank Siller, whose firefighter brother Stephen died at the World Trade Center.

“People who weren’t alive don’t have the same feeling about it as those who were alive. But America has never forgotten about Pearl Harbour and America will never forget about 9/11.”