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By Emmanuel Adeleke
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has granted the former Commander of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IGP-IRT), DCP Abba Kyari, two weeks’ bail after spending 27 months in detention.
Kyari was granted bail to conclude the burial rites of his mother, Yachilla Kyari.
The court subsequently set Friday, May 31 for the determination of his bail application.
Kyari was standing trial over drug-related charges filed against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), following his arrest on February 14, 2022.
Kyari’s mother died in the early hours of Sunday, May 5, 2024. She was survived by 10 children, including Abba, who is the eldest son.
While Kyari was not able to attend his mother’s burial, residents of Borno State turned out in large numbers to pay their respect to Yachilla, who was buried according to Islamic rites the same day.
In 2022, the Police Service Commission (PSC) suspended Kyari and two senior officers — Sunday Ubua and James Bawa — who were named in a cocaine deal worth millions of naira.
The NDLEA had also declared Kyari wanted over alleged links with an international drug cartel.
The agency had accused Kyari and his team of arresting some drug traffickers who arrived in the country from Ethiopia with 25kg of cocaine, but took 15kg of the seized substance for themselves.