I worked as motorbike rider to sponsor myself in school- ACP Abba Kyari

Mr. Abba Kyari was recently promoted to the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP). He’s the officer in charge of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris’s Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT), an elite squad. He and his men have been instrumental in the cracking of many high profile cases of kidnapping, robberies and murders. In this chat with JULIANA FRANCIS after his decoration with his new rank by the IGP, Kyari, the youngest ACP in police, speaks about his promotion, most challenging operations and childhood.

Excerpt:

How do you feel about your promotion?

Apart from the issue of Godogodo’s arrest, today is one of my happiest days in my life. I also feel it’s a great achievement to the Nigeria Police Force and Nigerians. When you talk about something personal that made me very happy; it’s my promotion. My men and I worked tirelessly and had sleepless nights doing our jobs. We worked night and day, ensuring we checkmate dangerous criminals and curtail their activities in society. Many of us were not promoted back them, but now we have been promoted. The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, felt we deserved to be promoted. He recommended us for promotion and eventually, the Police Service Commission, approved it. I

t’s my happiest moment in personal terms. Ordinarily, it will take many years to cross from a Chief Superintendent of Police (ACP) to an Assistant Commissioner of Police because the promotion only takes place when there is vacancy. If there is no vacancy for the office of ACP, the recommendation will not be heeded.

The promotion is strictly based on vacant seats available. So, that is why it has always been very difficult to cross to the other side of the divide. The hurdle that takes so many years to cross, with this special promotion, based on gallantries that we got, we have been able to cross this hurdle. I’m most grateful to the almighty God.

How do you feel working with this present IG?

I’m most grateful to him. He’s an operations man. He wants the job to be done. Whenever there was a crime, he makes sure the perpetrators are brought to book. He can call you at 3am, 4am or 5am, demanding to know the extent of an investigation and crackdown on suspected criminals. He pushes us to work harder. All his life, he has been in operations. I, particularly, like operations and investigations; that’s where my strength lies. That’s why we have this kind of common thinking. He gives us supports; provides everything we need for the job to be done, as long as he knows those needs were essential towards achieving a successful operation. He listens to us and gingers us. We can’t thank him enough for the promotion.

When do you find time to rest and how do you relax?

I normally find time to rest during the weekends, Saturdays and Sundays. Though I come to the office on Saturdays, but I come in the afternoon. I work from 2pm to 8pm.  I use Sundays to go out with my family. I take my wife and children for shopping or any other place. On some Sundays, I stay at home with them. But sometimes, something might crop us that weekend and I would be occupied throughout in the office. Once in a year, I try to take two weeks break. Sometimes in that two weeks, I may travel with my family overseas, other times, we go to my village, which is Maiduguri; my hometown.

How did you get into policing?

Actually, right from the time I was in secondary school, my dream has always been to be a pilot, police or army officer. Those are the three jobs I really yearned for. When I got into the university, I realised my piloting ambition couldn’t hold because there was no sponsorship. My father was a retired a civil servant.

Things weren’t going well for us in the family. There was no way I could get sponsorship to aviation school. My government couldn’t assist because you needed to have connection. I didn’t. I decided that between army and police, anyone that comes first, I would grab it. I love both jobs. The police job came first.

I went for the interview in November 1999, when I was doing my MSc. I graduated in 1997 and did my NYSC in 1998.  After my NYSC, I decided to do my MSc.

 During my MSc programme, I was called for the police job interview. At the state level, we were about 162 cadets.  Between 60 or 40 of us were selected to go for the zonal screening. In the zonal screening, they selected 19 of us that were in Adamawa State. The Police Zonal Headquarter was in Adamawa State back then.

That was how they selected 19 of us to proceed to the national screening in Kaduna. At the national screening, they selected 10 of us. I had the advantage, you know because of my age. I was the youngest then; I was just 24. I also had the right height and educational certificates. Everything was perfect. I didn’t doctor my age like most people were doing. You can easily know somebody’s age when you ask about the year they attended secondary school. With the help of God, I was selected. I came for training.

It’s a long story; in fact, you know when God says someone will do something, it will happen. You see, while attending all these interviews and screenings, I didn’t have a single presentable cloth.

You see, all my life, throughout my SS2 to SS3 in secondary school, throughout my university, I sponsored myself. I worked as a commercial motorbike rider throughout. That was how I was able to sponsor my education. We are many from my dad; we are over 30 children, with 15 mothers.

Many of our mothers were not in the house. We were on our own. My mom left our house when I was just seven years old. She left four children. I’m the eldest, then there is my sister and two others. The youngest then was one year old when she left. We were left in the care of a stepmom. The stepmom has her children. Step moms cannot take good care of other women’s children.

They’ll take good care of their children. Those of us, whose mothers were no longer in the house, were always on our own. So, you can best imagine the life of a seven year old boy without a mother.

Why did you mother leave?

She had a quarrel with my father and they divorced. She left to remarry in another town, far away from Maiduguri. We didn’t see her for many years. The situation made me to have an independent spirit and strong willed.

In my father’s house, they feed us in group; lunch and dinner. If for reason you were not around during mealtime, nobody would wait for you and you’ve missed your food for that day.

We normally eat lunch around 2pm and dinner around 6:30. The moment you are not around or someone sent you on errand, you wouldn’t get food. You go hungry to bed or wait for dinner. That was how we grew up from primary school to secondary school.

When I got to senior secondary school level that was when I started riding motorcycle to survive. I needed money to feed myself and siblings. Throughout my university education, I didn’t have the luxury of time to enjoy university life like other students did.

I used to dash from lecture room to motorcycle park. It’s from the motorcycle park; I would rush back for my next lecture.  If I have a lecture for 10am to 12pm, I would get to campus earlier. I would move to the park. That was my life throughout those trying periods.

Have you been able to locate your mom?

From the time that she left our house when I was seven, I saw her once when I was about 11 or 12 years. I didn’t see her again until I finished my NYSC; I was 23 years old then.

Do you have a cordial relationship with her? Is she proud of you the way Nigerians are proud of you?

Boko Haram later killed her husband about four to five years ago. The man was a prominent Islamic scholar. I have brought her back to Maiduguri. She’s staying in my house right now. She gave birth to four children for her new husband.

Boko Haram took over the whole of that town. Everybody had to run away. All her children are staying with her in my house.  All of us that are living in those areas take care of a lot of people.

Like me, I have over 30 people that are my family members that came from all those villages that were ransacked and taken over by Boko Haram. Many people are afraid to go back. Some cannot even go back because their homes have been destroyed.

Do you want your children to go into Policing?

Yes I will love it if they like to. I will always want them to choose the profession they like for themselves. But if they choose policing, I’ll support them. You know, anything that is worth doing, is worth doing well.

What’s the secret behind your constant cracking of cases?

People used to say that we use ‘juju’ in policing, especially IRT operatives, but we don’t. It’s all about putting your mind to your work, dedicating yourself. When you are at work, concentrate on what you’re doing. If there is any case you’re handling, you should make sure that it’s done well.

Whenever we have a case, I would sit and ask myself the best team that can handle it. I know all their strengths and weaknesses. I know all my men. I allocate cases based on what I know they are good at. If this case is on, maybe kidnapping, I know the team that are good at handling kidnapping. If it’s robbery or cultism, I know the team to send. When I allocate cases, I brief the team fully on what to do. I don’t relax after that; I follow up, watching, monitoring, re-strategising if necessary. I interview suspects ahead. Speaking with them gives insights on the likely next steps to take. All these makes the men to sit up. They know if they didn’t do well, I’ll know. I know how to reward teams that are hard working. If a policeman is hard working, I’ll mention him. I’ll encourage and support him. It makes others want to work hard too. I listen to everybody whenever we are on an operation. I don’t have monopoly of knowledge. I listen to everybody, and then we take the best decision forward. We put our heads together and come up with the best decision possible.

You go after kidnappers, robbers and other criminals. How does your wife handle this?

She got used to it. Initially, she was uncomfortable. She asked we were always looking for kidnappers and dangerous criminals. She got used to it. Now, we discuss how to crack cases. She has developed a keen interest. These days, she watches crime and investigation station on DSTV. She likes that channel because she cares about how cases are cracked. There was a time we arrested Boko Haram members that bombed Abuja. We recovered explosives and other things. She was tensed that period. She knew how Boko Haram used to come after people. We busted the house where the Boko Haram members were making guns. I think for many years; that was the only time she was really worried.

What do you tell policemen that just joined policing?

Whenever I’m with new policemen, I tell them police work is about hard work and dedication. There’s no substitute for hard work. I tell them, whenever they were doing a case, they must make sure they do follow up. They should do everything to move the case forward. It’s not a matter of handling a case, and when the time is 6pm, you’ll abandon it and head to beer parlour.

When you’re on a case, you should concentrate on it and forget about other things. When you’re through with the case, you’ll have time to go and do whatever you want to do. But as long as you have a serious issue at hand, that should be the number one thing on your mind. Even when you close and you go to your house, you should be thinking on how to crack the case. The moment you wake up in the morning, you’ll continue thinking. With that attitude, you’ll make progress. I always tell these young policemen that these white people have gone far. The gap between them and us in policing is wide. They are, however, human beings like us. The only difference is that they dedicate themselves to whatever they do.

We’re somehow careless. We’re not so serious on issues. One shouldn’t leave important case to go drinking or chase after women.  A white man, if he knows he has something that he’s doing, you’ll see how serious he.

That kind of serious mind is what many new policemen lack. With that kind of serious mind, there’s nothing one cannot do and achieve. I also try to disabuse their minds from interacting with members of the public in order to collect money.

Such moves are usually what can tarnish a good policeman’s reputation.  I believe that someone, who is a victim, should be asked for money. I don’t like. Most times, I use my personal money to pursue cases, just to ensure it’s cracked. There are many people outside, who would appreciate you for doing your job well. Just last week, we cracked a case. Somebody was robbed in his house.

The robbers took two of his expensive cars, Avanza and another big car. They also took his wife’s jewelry. The guy was sick with fright. He thought someone sent robbers to attack his home.

We were able to arrest all the armed robbers. The car had even been moved to Niger Republic. We were able to arrest the suspects. We brought the car back to Nigeria. We recovered and handed his cars to him. He was just happy. His happiness fulfilled me. He even organized a thanksgiving.

He was suspecting his neighbours as hiring the robbers, but the robbers told him that nobody hired them to rob him. There’s a barbing saloon close to his house. The robbers use the saloon. They always see him driving out of his compound in expensive cars. They felt someone with such cars, would have be rich. So, they planned and attacked his house.

We didn’t collect a dime from him. We did all ours investigations, including moving to Niger Republic, to arrest all the robbers. We also went to Kaduna and Kano. We went to border to collect the car. It took us like seven days to get Intel, movement, hotel accommodation and what have you. He refunded all our expenses. The summary of what I’m trying to say is that if you work hard and do your work well, there’s no need to demand money from people.

Who is your role model, in Nigeria and the world at large?

Barrack Obama is my role model. In Africa, Nelson Mandela is my role model. In Nigeria, Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga and chairman of Innoson Motors and Chief Tony Ezenna Chairman Orange Drugs, among others are my role models. These two Nigerians brought development to our country. They employed thousands of Nigerians and brought progress to our nation. I so much respect them; they moved the country forward. My past heroes and models areTafawa Balewa, the great Zik, Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello Sadauna of Sokoto.

You’re handsome and a super cop. How do you handle women chasing you?

Well, obviously you can see that I don’t even have time to relax. I like being polite to people, so whenever such things happen, I take time to explain the nature of my work. It’s time consuming. I tell them I wouldn’t have time for them. I tell them there are many better guys out there, who can give treat them better and give them attention.

I talk them politely and show them the disadvantages of coming after me.

Can you remember your most challenging operation?

Godogodo was the number one criminal that gave me a lot of challenges. Right from the time that I became officer in charge of SARS, which was January 2011, he became the number one person terrorising Lagos and other states.

He was behind the killings of several policemen. He killed Nigerians in different states. Between 2012 and 2015, he would go on a robbery operation 40 to 50 armed men. He robbed almost every weekend.

Whenever he sighted any police patrol team responding to distress call, he and his men would ambush and kill them all.  At a point in Lagos, it was announced all over the radio and television that whenever there was any robbery within Lagos Island at night, only Armored Personnel Carriers should move to the scene. During his time, there was robbery incident every weekend and we lose policemen.

There were series of bank robberies in the South West during that time, leading to the closure of many banks in the small towns within the South West. He was extremely intelligent and tricky. He was difficult to catch. He didn’t drink or flirt. He didn’t smoke or go to parties. Unlike other robbers, he didn’t fancy expensive cars or wear expensive clothes. Nobody knew where he lived.

The only thing we knew was that he was in Ibadan, but nobody knew where in Ibadan. Even his gang members, who were arrested before him, didn’t know his house. They also only had his mobile phone number. The number was only used by him to call his men for operation. They didn’t have his genuine phone number.

I chased him for six years. In those six years, my sleeping and waking thoughts were about him. Anytime I’m discussing with anyone, it would be about Godogodo. I kept planning and strategizing on how to catch him.

He was my greatest challenging operation that I ever had. Although there are other challenges actually, but he was the greatest one. He was eventually arrested. When he was arrested, there was a serious celebration in Lagos State and even Lagos Police Command.

As a policeman, can you remember your saddest day?

My saddest day is any day I lost an officer while he is on duty. If somebody gets sick and dies in the house, people will understand that. But if somebody dies in the line of duty, it’s always tragic and saddening. It usually affects me. I don’t like policemen dying on duty. It saddens me.

What about your happiest day as a policeman?

My happiest day was the day we arrested Godogodo and the day of my promotion. There was also the arrest gang of kidnappers, China and his men. They were behind the abduction of the Ejigbo Local Government Chairman. The day of their arrest was one of my happiest moments. But Godogodo’s arrest remains my happiest moment.

What do you have to say to Nigerians?

I want us to be patriotic like the. When you look at other countries, you see that people put their countries first. They will like to do things that will move their country forward. Whatever they do, they’ll make sure they do it well and for the interest of their country. That’s the kind of patriotism that I want Nigerians to have. I want us to be united; there should be no issues of ethnicity and religion. We should just see ourselves as one. We should praise people based on their characters, not where they are coming from or the religion they practice. That’s what I actually do with my men. I treat people based on who they are, on how good, hardworking and dedicated they are.  I just want us to see ourselves as one, so that this country will move forward. You know, we don’t have any other country other than Nigeria. Anytime we go to other countries, they look at us like we want to suck their countries dry; they look at us like we are parasites.

Is that why you don’t like Donald Trump?

Yes! I hate that guy! Trump’s parents are immigrants; his wife is an immigrant, but he is treating everyone with disrespect. It’s not good. I don’t like people who ridicule people, ridicule women or disabled people. He has over 3500 law suits against him, yet he’s maltreating people. There are many other billionaires that are 10 times richer than him. They don’t have these kinds of cases against them. I like people that respect others and do their work well. I look at respectful people like Obama and Mandela and I’m awed by their humility.

Look at Mandela, while others were advocating violence, he was urging the world and South Africa to unite because he didn’t want black or white supremacy. He wanted everybody to be treated equally. He didn’t want a white man to be maltreated and he didn’t want a white man to be maltreated. He was a great leader with foresight.