A federal high court sitting in Abuja has, again, refused to grant bail to the suspended former commander of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), DCP Abba Kyari. The presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, in his ruling, held that Kyari’s bail was at the discretion of the court in line with section 161 (2) of the administration of the criminal justice act and that the defendant had not shown any new evidence to warrant the court to grant him bail.
Kyari is facing an eight-count charge bordering on alleged drug trafficking brought against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The anti-drug abuse agency alleged that Kyari and some others, sometime between January 19 and 25, 2022, at the office of Inspector-General of Police, IRT, Abuja, in connivance with one ASP John Umoru (now at large), ACP Sunday J. Ubia, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirigba and Inspector John Nuhu, unlawfully tampered with 21.25kilograms worth of cocaine that they seized from the two convicted drug traffickers- Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwane and also accused them of dealing in cocaine worth 17.55kg contrary to section 14(b) of the NDLEA Act, CAP N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, the defendants.
Recall that last month, the court granted Kyari temporary bail from prison custody to enable him to participate in his mother’s final burial rites, granting him ₦50m bail for two weeks and two sureties in like sum.
Previously, Kyari had filed an application to challenge the charge brought against him which the court on March 22, 2023, dismissed.
Kyari’s legal team had argued that the charge was legally defective and premature, adding that the NDLEA ought to have allowed police to exhaust its internal machinery before filing the applications in court.
They claim that the Police had already commenced an investigation into allegations against him and issued an interim report.
