Cocaine deal: Court denies Abba Kyari, others’ bail

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, refused to grant bail to suspended DCP Abba Kyari and four other police officers charged with alleged drug trafficking.

Other defendants in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/57/2022 are four members of the disbanded Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), including Sunday J. Ubia, Bawa James, Simon Agirigba, and John Nuhu.

Presiding judge Justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling, held that the defendants had not placed sufficient materials before the court to warrant granting the request.

Ruling on Kyari’s bail application, Justice Nwite said bail was at the discretion of the court.

The suspended IRT boss was detained following his arrest on February 14, 2022, by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for alleged involvement in a cocaine deal.

Court grants Abba Kyari 2-week bail to bury mother

Kyari, alongside four suspended officers, was arraigned on March 7, 2022.

Two suspected drug traffickers, Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, who were arrested at Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, were also charged.

While Kyari and the IRT members pleaded not guilty, Umeibe and Ezenwanne pleaded guilty and were convicted.

Meanwhile, Kyari, in his fresh application for bail, said he had spent two years in pre-trial detention by March 7, far in excess of one year which the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015 deemed exceptional circumstances, for a person charged with capital offence.

The Star