Abuja high court refuses to grant Abba Kyari bail agreeing with NDLEA that he is a flight risk

ASSISTANT Police Commissioner Abba Kyari has been denied bail by a federal high court in Abuja after a judge agreed with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) that he was a flight risk and letting him go could lead to him absconding.

On Monday February 14,  Mr Kyari, who headed the Nigeria Police Force's Intelligence Response Team (IRT), was arrested over his alleged links with an international drug cartel. NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, said Mr Kyari is a member of a cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria pipeline.

Mr Kyari is being interrogated but claiming his innocence, the policeman one once dubbed Supercop, filed a lawsuit with the Federal High Court in Abuja. In his suit, Mr Kyari is seeking to compel the NDLEA to grant him bail on health grounds, pending the hearing and determination of his fundamental right enforcement application.

Today, however, Justice Emeka Nwite,  ruled that the NDLEA had placed sufficient evidence before the court to refuse the bail request. Justice Nwite also rejected bail plea of Mr Kyari’s co-defendants.

In its counter-affidavit,  the NDLEA held that it was inappropriate to grant bail to the applicant because of the facts and circumstances of the case. It described Mr Kyari as a flight risk, arguing that if granted bail, the suspended policeman might jump bail.

Also, the NDLEA argued that Mr Kyari might interfere with evidence if granted bail, so urged the court to dismiss the bail plea. It argued that the medical challenges of the applicant was not beyond the capacity of the agency’s medical personnel.