The FBI issuing of an arrest warrant in relation to a prominent Nigerian policeman has exposed a corruption scandal in Nigeria that is being met with mixed reactions in the country and the policy. The Nigerian Police have a reputation for corruption that reaches up to the upper echelon of the organization. 

FBI arrest warrant exposes police scandal in Nigeria.

Abba Kyari a highly decorated head of the Intelligence Response Team of the Nigeria Police Service, has been suspended pending the investigation of allegations leveled by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he was in cahoots with Ramon Abbas, better known as “Hushpuppi“ a Nigerian “Yahoo boy,” a popular Nigerian term for cybercriminals, involved in money laundering and fraud.

Whatever Nigeria’s reputation, that of the police is poor, both at home and abroad. Among Nigerians, the police are a byword for corruption—grand and petty—and harassment, especially of the poor. Anti-police sentiment boiled over late last year in protests against the notoriously brutal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)—for which Kyari formerly served as the officer-in-charge—collectively known as #EndSARS. The Buhari administration has promised police reform, of which there has been little evidence. However, the investigation of Abba Kyari could be a hopeful sign.