A Federal High Court in Abuja Wednesday granted the former commander of the Force Intelligence Response Team, DCP Abba Kyari, two weeks’ bail after 27 months in detention.
The bail was granted to enable him conclude burial rites of his mother, Yachilla Kyari.
The court has set Friday, May 31, for determination of his bail application in the trial over drug-related charges filed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
He was arrested on February 14, 2022 and the mother died in the early hours of Sunday, May 5, 2024,
Although incarcerated Abba Kyari could not attend his mother’s burial, residents of Borno state reportedly turned out in large numbers to pay their respects who was buried according to Islamic rites.
Kyari and two senior police officers — Sunday Ubua and James Bawa were suspended in 2022 by the Police Service Commission as they were named in a cocaine deal.
“The Police Service Commission has suspended assistant commissioner of police, ACP Sunday Ubua and assistant superintendent of police, ASP James Bawa from the exercise of the powers and functions of their respective offices with effect from Monday, 14th February, 2022,” the PSC had said in a statement.
The NDLEA had also declared Kyari wanted over alleged links with an international drug cartel.
Femi Babalola, spokesperson for the NDLEA, alleged that Kyari and his Intelligence Response Team arrested some drug traffickers who arrived in the country from Ethiopia with 25kg of cocaine, but took 15kg of the seized substance for themselves.
