The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has released the United
Kingdom (UK) passport bio-data page of Matthew Adebiyi, a Nigerian recently
extradited to the country over allegations of murder and illicit drug
trafficking.
The passport bio-data page shows his full name as “Adebiyi
Mathew Chukuemeka”.
Aliyu Giwa, the NPF head of new media, published the
bio-data page via X on Friday.
On Thursday, many Nigerians accused the police of “ethnic
bigotry” after it released a statement that included “Chukuemeka” in the
suspect’s name.
Anthony Placid, the force spokesperson, said Adebiyi was
arrested on January 23, 2025, by operatives of INTERPOL’s national central
bureau (NCB) in Abuja.
Placid said the UK authorities requested the extradition of
the suspect in September 2024 over his “alleged involvement in the murder of
one Joshua Boadu on 18th June 2018”.
The force spokesperson said Adebiyi fled to Nigeria to evade
arrest after the alleged involvement in the murder.
In November 2025, a federal high court in Lagos ordered his
extradition to the UK to face trial over the allegations.
In the statement released by Placid, the NPF identified the
suspect as “Matthew Chukwuemeka Adebiyi”.
The inclusion of “Chukwuemeka” in the suspect’s name sparked
controversy as many Nigerians on X accused the police of “ethnic bigotry”.
Many of those who commented on the police statement alleged
that the police included the name in order to identify the suspect as someone
from the south-east geopolitical zone.
However, in the post, titled, “Crime has no tribe, justice
has no ethnicity,” Giwa said the suspect’s “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. Matthew did not flee the UK
because of his ethnicity,” he wrote.
“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.”
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