Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) Ibrahim Baba Zango has denied allegations of threats, harassment and abuse of office made against him by his estranged Egyptian wife, Karma Saleh, describing the dispute as an unresolved marital disagreement.
Zango, who spoke exclusively to SaharaReporters by telephone on Sunday, also accused Saleh of being involved in a dispute over N2 million he said he sent for the purchase of a laptop and tablets. He further alleged that Saleh left with five of his vehicles, including a Toyota Hilux.
The DIG’s response followed a report detailing a police investigation into allegations contained in a petition submitted by Saleh through her lawyers, Aliyu Saiki, SAN & Co., to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).
In the petition, Saleh alleged that Zango threatened and harassed her, blocked her bank accounts and those of some of her friends, monitored her financial transactions and used his position within the Nigeria Police Force against her.
She also alleged that Zango caused a criminal case to be initiated against her at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Annex in Kaduna and threatened her with arrest and deportation through Interpol.
However, the police investigation report did not make a definitive finding that Zango unlawfully blocked Saleh’s accounts or abused his office. Rather, investigators said the dispute appeared to have stemmed largely from unresolved marital problems, while recommending an independent review of the circumstances surrounding the account restrictions and the related criminal case.
Speaking on the matter, Zango disputed Saleh’s account of their relationship and insisted that they remain legally married.
According to the DIG, the lawyer who submitted the petition on Saleh’s behalf is also his wife’s lawyer.
“So, let me tell you: that man who sent that petition, he is a lawyer. He is my wife’s lawyer. We are legally married. We have three children; one died, so two remain,” Zango said.
“I don’t know what to explain. My wife and I, we have children. It’s me and my wife.”
Zango said Saleh had left their home and was now living with another man, but maintained that there had been no divorce.
“She left my house. She is sleeping with somebody. And now you are coming to publish me all over the newspaper,” he said.
“She is my wife. We are still married. We are not divorced. There is nothing about divorce.”
Asked about Saleh’s claim that she had commenced divorce proceedings, Zango acknowledged that she had filed for divorce but said the filing did not mean that the marriage had already been dissolved.
“She said she filed for divorce. She filed for divorce. Are we divorced?” he asked.
“The matter is in court. Nobody has the power to listen to that one.”
He also described the matter as a private marital dispute, saying, “If you are not happy. It’s me and my wife. It’s none of your business.”
On the allegations concerning Saleh’s bank accounts, Zango said the restrictions were connected to his attempt to recover money and property he claimed were taken from him.
“She ran away with my property. She ran away with my property. That is why I blocked her account,” he said.
The DIG said the matter began after Saleh travelled to India to accompany a friend identified as Chioma, whom he said was receiving cancer treatment.
According to him, he encouraged Saleh to accompany Chioma and paid for the trip.
“Chioma travelled to India. She called me. I’m the one paying for transport to follow her. Chioma is having cancer,” he said.
“I advised her to go to India because I was in India. I linked her with a doctor I know.”
Zango said he subsequently sent N2 million after being informed that money was needed to clear goods at the airport.
He said Saleh travelled with Chioma after he paid for her ticket and that an account belonging to another person was later provided for the transaction.
“So, I sent N2 million to Chioma. And she gave me an account, an account belonging to somebody,” he said.
“I said, ‘Who is this man?’ Chioma told me that this man was the one who would collect the goods at the airport. She would use this money for the clearing of the goods.”
Zango said he later discovered that he had neither received the laptop and tablets he expected nor recovered the money.
“So, when I sent the money to the account, I did not see my laptop. I did not see the tablets. So, the account she gave me, I sent the money there,” he said.
The DIG said he initially blocked the account belonging to the man who received the N2 million, rather than Saleh’s account.
“I did not block my wife’s account initially. When I blocked that man’s account, he refused to come,” he said.
“I blocked the man’s account and went to arrest him.”
According to Zango, the man later told him that the money had been handed over to his wife.
“We went and arrested the man. ‘Where is the money?’ I sent it to the account. He said he gave it to my wife,” he said.
Zango said the information prompted him to investigate the transactions and establish Saleh’s whereabouts.
“Since my wife is the one that took the goods with her, where is she? She should have given me the account of my wife so that I would send the money there,” he said.
“But because they have refused me, the money I sent, she gave me the account of that man.”
He further alleged that the man told him the money had been given to an Egyptian woman, whom he later identified as Saleh.
“When I arrested the man, he said he gave the money to a woman from Egypt. I discovered that this is my wife,” Zango said.
“So, when I arrested him, he said he had given it to my wife.”
According to the DIG, the man also told him that Saleh had travelled to India.
“To my wife. I asked, ‘Where is she now?’ He said she travelled to India,” he said.
Zango said he subsequently discovered money in an account linked to the matter and ordered that the account be blocked.
“So, when I investigated the account, I saw that there was money in the account. So, I blocked the account,” he said.
He claimed Saleh later contacted him and asked him to unblock the account, but he refused because of the earlier transaction.
“When I traced her, she called me and said that I should open the account,” he said.
Zango added: “I said, ‘How can she ask me to send money to her, to give me the account of somebody, and then come back and collect more money?’”
“She refused. I blocked the account.”
The DIG also alleged that Saleh left with five vehicles belonging to him.
“And she ran away with my five cars. Five. Five, including the Hilux,” he said.
The allegation was also contained in the police investigation report, which recorded Zango’s counter-allegation that Saleh had possession of five of his vehicles.
According to the report, Zango, while denying the allegations against him, alleged that Saleh and one of her friends conspired to defraud him of N2 million meant for the purchase of a laptop and tablet, which he said he had not received.
The report also recorded his allegation that Saleh had possession of five vehicles belonging to him.
The police investigation followed Saleh’s petition to the IGP, which was referred through Letter No. CB:7050/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOL.200/28 dated April 29, 2026, to the DIG, Force Intelligence Department, and subsequently endorsed to the Counter Intelligence Unit for investigation.
Saleh told investigators that she married Zango under the Marriage Act on January 8, 2020, and alleged that they had been separated for several years.
She also told investigators that she had filed for divorce at the High Court in Lagos and reportedly provided a copy of the divorce petition and other documents in support of her allegations.
The police report said the investigation team invited Saleh to adopt her petition and provide a written statement and supporting documents.
The investigators, however, concluded that the dispute appeared to be rooted in the couple’s unresolved marital disagreement.
“Flowing from above, it will appear that the issues between the petitioner and DIG Ibrahim Baba Zango stemmed entirely from unresolved marital dispute,” the report stated.
Despite that conclusion, the investigators recommended further scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding the restriction of Saleh’s accounts, particularly in view of the allegation of possible abuse of office.
The report also recommended that the case being handled at the FCID Annex in Kaduna be transferred for an independent review.
“Therefore, it is humbly recommended that the Inspector-General of Police approve the transfer of the case under investigation at the Force CID Annex, Kaduna for a review,” the report stated.
The investigation report, therefore, did not establish that Zango unlawfully blocked Saleh’s accounts, threatened or harassed her, or abused his office. It also did not establish the counter-allegations made by Zango against Saleh.
Instead, it recorded allegations and counter-allegations from both parties, identified the unresolved marital dispute as a major source of the conflict and called for further review of the account restrictions and the Kaduna FCID case.
The recommended review is expected to further examine the circumstances surrounding the account restrictions and the handling of the criminal case against Saleh.