The Nigeria Police Force has dismissed attempts to frame the extradition of murder and drug trafficking suspect Matthew Chukwuemeka Adebiyi to the United Kingdom as a tribal matter.

It said the case is strictly one of justice and criminal accountability.

The Force’s New Media Officer, Aliyu Giwa, made the clarification on Friday in a post on X, where he stated that official records confirm Adebiyi is of mixed heritage, with an Igbo mother and a Yoruba father.

“Crime has no tribe, justice has no ethnicity. Following Matthew Chukwuemeka Adebiyi’s extradition to the UK, his international passport and official records confirm that his mother is Igbo and his father is Yoruba.

“Portraying murder and drug trafficking charges as tribal issues is both inaccurate and potentially harmful,” Giwa wrote.

He stressed that neither the victim’s death nor the extradition process had any ethnic dimension.

“Matthew did not flee the UK because of his ethnicity. Joshua Boadu’s murder was not motivated by ethnic factors. The Nigeria Police Force did not facilitate this extradition on the basis of ethnicity. Justice has been served.

“Tribal identity should not influence legal proceedings. In this case, the facts are clear: a fugitive, a court order, and accountability,” Giwa stated.

He also faces charges of supplying crack cocaine between October 2017 and March 2018.

According to Giwa, Adebiyi fled to Nigeria believing distance would shield him from prosecution.

“He fled to Nigeria, thinking he would be safe. He was wrong,” he wrote on Thursday.

UK authorities submitted a formal extradition request to INTERPOL National Central Bureau Abuja in September 2024. Adebiyi was arrested on January 23, 2025, and extradition proceedings were filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

On February 16, 2026, Justice A. O. Faji approved the extradition, and Adebiyi was subsequently handed over to UK law enforcement at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

Giwa noted the weight of the moment for the victim’s family. “Joshua Boadu’s family waited nearly eight years for this day. Today, the Nigeria Police Force and INTERPOL NCB Abuja made it possible,” he said.

The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, used the occasion to reaffirm the Force’s commitment to international law enforcement cooperation.

“Nigeria is not a hiding place. It is not a refuge for fugitives. No border, distance or time will stop the Force from working with the global community to deliver justice,” Disu said. (The PUNCH)

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