DIG ZANGO, EGYPTIAN ESTRANGED WIFE IN NIGERIA POLICE STORM: PETITION ALLEGES ACCOUNT BLOCKING, THREATS, N200,000 PAYMENT; PROBE LINKS DISPUTE TO FAILED MARRIAGE

A police investigation into allegations of abuse of office, threats, harassment and unlawful interference with bank accounts against Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Baba Zango, has linked the dispute to an unresolved marital disagreement between the senior police officer and his estranged Egyptian wife, Karma Saleh.

The allegations were contained in a petition submitted by Aliyu Saiki, SAN & Co. on behalf of Saleh to the Inspector-General of Police and subsequently referred for discreet investigation.

The petition was referred through Letter No. CB:7050/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOL.200/28 dated April 29, 2026, to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Intelligence Department and was subsequently endorsed to the Counter Intelligence Unit for investigation and a report.

According to the investigation report signed by DIG Zachariah Fera Achiya, Saleh alleged that Zango engaged in a series of unlawful, malicious, threatening and oppressive actions against her following the breakdown of their marriage.

She alleged that the senior police officer made criminal allegations against her, threatened her with arrest and deportation through Interpol, blocked her bank accounts and those of some of her friends, monitored her financial transactions and used his position and influence within the Nigeria Police Force against her.

Saleh further alleged that Zango used his office to initiate a criminal case against her at the Force Criminal Investigation Department Annex in Kaduna.

She identified the Investigating Police Officer handling the case as SP DanMallam and accused him of acting on the DIG’s instructions to harass her.

According to the petition, DanMallam allegedly demanded and received N200,000 from her on the understanding that the money would facilitate the unblocking of her bank accounts.

The petitioner alleged that the accounts remained blocked despite the payment and that the threats and harassment continued.

During the investigation, Saleh was invited to adopt her petition and provide a written statement. She also supplied additional information and documents in support of her allegations.

In her statement, Saleh, a 29-year-old Egyptian student, said she married Zango under the Marriage Act on January 8, 2020.

“My name is Karma Saleh. I am from Egypt. I am a student. I got married to Ibrahim Baba Zango DIG on 8th January, 2020 under the Marriage Act,” she stated.

Saleh said the couple did not live together for an extended period and had no children.

“We never stayed together much as I always stayed on my own. I only visit him once in a while. We have no children together. We have been separated for several years now,” she said.

She told investigators that she was no longer interested in the marriage and had commenced divorce proceedings at the High Court in Lagos.

“I am not interested in the marriage and I have filed a petition for divorce. I have a copy of my petition for divorce which I filed at the High Court in Lagos,” she stated.

She said she submitted a photocopy of the divorce petition to the police during the investigation.

Saleh also alleged that she discovered in December 2025 that her Access Bank account had been blocked.

“I tried to find out from my bank through email why my account was blocked but they refused to tell me,” she said.

According to her statement, she subsequently learnt that the bank allegedly had instructions to arrest her if she visited the bank to conduct transactions.

She added that she was outside Nigeria when the account was blocked.

Zango, however, denied the allegations when he was invited to respond to the petition.

According to the police report, the DIG submitted a written statement in which he rejected Saleh’s allegations and instead accused her of conspiring with one of her friends to defraud him of N2 million.

Zango alleged that the money was intended for the purchase of a laptop and a tablet but that he had not received the items.

He also alleged that Saleh was in possession of five of his vehicles.

The investigation report said the issues between the two parties appeared to be largely rooted in their unresolved marital dispute.

“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.

However, the investigators said the circumstances surrounding the blocking of Saleh’s bank accounts required further scrutiny, particularly because the allegation raised questions about possible abuse of office.

The investigation team recommended a “diligent probe” into the circumstances surrounding the restrictions placed on the accounts and the handling of the related criminal case at the FCID Annex in Kaduna.

The report therefore recommended that the case being investigated at the FCID Annex, 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 recommendation was contained in a report submitted to the Inspector-General of Police by DIG Zachariah Fera Achiya, Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Intelligence Department at Force Headquarters, Abuja.

Importantly, the police investigation did not make a definitive finding that Zango unlawfully ordered the blocking of Saleh’s bank accounts or abused his office.

Rather, the investigators called for the circumstances surrounding the account restrictions and the handling of the related criminal case to be subjected to further and independent scrutiny.

The dispute therefore remains contested, with Saleh alleging harassment, threats and misuse of police authority, while Zango denies the allegations and has levelled his own allegations against his estranged wife.

The investigation comes months after Zango was elevated to the rank of Deputy Inspector-General of Police.

In March 2026, the Police Service Commission approved the promotion of seven Assistant Inspectors-General of Police to the rank of Deputy Inspectors-General as part of changes to the senior leadership structure of the Nigeria Police Force under Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu.

Zango was among those promoted.

Before his elevation, he served as the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Department of Logistics and Supply at Force Headquarters, Abuja, where he was responsible for overseeing logistics-related operations, including the provision and distribution of operational resources to police formations.

The police report’s recommendation for an independent review means that questions surrounding the alleged account restrictions and the FCID case remain subject to further investigation.

For now, the police document establishes that allegations were made, that Zango denied them and made counter-allegations, and that investigators recommended further scrutiny rather than reaching a final finding of wrongdoing.