A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, rejected a fresh motion by the imprisoned Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari, who has been charged with cocaine trafficking and sought bail pending the outcome of his trial.
Justice Emeka Nwite, the trial judge, said that the motion lacked substance, stating that the suspended DCP failed to prove any unusual situation that would justify the use of judicial discretion in his favor.
Justice Nwite stated that the trial court had once denied a comparable bail request that the defendant had made and mandated an expedited hearing of the matter.
He ruled that information presented to the court was not enough to support the court’s decision to reverse its prior decision. As a result, the court ruled out the application and directed the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NLDEA, to move forward with Kyari’s and his co-defendants’ prosecution.
The decision was made about a month after the troubled former police officer was given a temporary release from jail so that he could be present and also take part in his mother’s last funeral ceremony.
It specifically granted him bail for a period of two weeks and also required him to post a N50 million bail bond with a surety on the same amount.
The previous leader of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Kyari is facing eight counts of charges from the NDLEA. Four of his team members, ACP Sunday J. Ubia, ASP Bawa James, Insp. Simon Agirigba, and Insp. John Nuhu, were also preferred.
In addition to accusations of trading cocaine worth 17.55kg, the NDLEA claimed that, Kyari and his men had unlawfully tempered with 21.25 kg of cocaine that they had taken from the two drug traffickers who had been found guilty, Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwane.
According to section 14(b) of the NDLEA Act, CAP N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, it has been claimed that the police personnel committed the offense between January 19 and 25, 2022, at the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) IRT, Abuja, it was gathered that he had an accomplice who is known as ASP John Umoru, who is currently on the run.
As they begged not guilty pleas to the charge, each defendant denied the accusation.
In two earlier decisions, the court had ordered the defendants to be placed at Kuje prison after denying them bail.
