Barely 24-hours after a federal judge declined to grant bail to the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, another judge has compounded his woes by approving a request by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to detain Mr Kyari and six others for two weeks.
The NDLEA is investigating Mr Kyari, a suspended deputy commissioner of police; and some other police officers, for their alleged involvement in a 25 kilogrammes cocaine deal.
The other suspects are Sunday Ubia, an assistant commissioner of police; James Bawa, an assistant superintendent of police; Simon Agirigba, a police inspector; John Nuhu, police inspector, Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alfonsus Ezenwanne.
On Tuesday, Zainab Abubakar, a Federal High Court judge in Abuja, granted an application by the anti-narcotics agency to detain the seven suspects pending further investigation.
Ruling
The court gave the order following the NDLEA’s application which was argued by the agency’s Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Sunday Joseph, on Tuesday.
The agency had in the ex-parte application dated February 15, 2022, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/111/2022, sought the leave of the court to detain the suspects in NDLEA custody for 14 days pending the conclusion of an investigation.
In an affidavit supporting the motion, the NDLEA stated that the 6th and 7th respondents (Messrs Umeibe and Ezenwanne) confessed upon their arrest in Enugu that they imported the seized cocaine through Addis-Ababa to Enugu on January 19, 2022.
It further disclosed that the 1st to 5th respondents (Messrs Kyari, Ubia, Bawa, Agirigba and Nuhu) are police officers who carried out the arrest of the 6th and 7th respondents and transferred them to NDLEA for further investigation.
“That investigation by the NDLEA revealed that the 1st to 5th respondents have compromised the whole operation and were involved in the importation, trafficking, and dealing and also tampered with the recovered cocaine.
“That the 1st to 5th respondents have volunteered their statements upon preliminary investigation, which has shown complicity in the case. Copies of statements are hereby attached and marked Annexure NDLEA 4,5,6,7,8, & 9 respectively.
“That the investigation will take some time as there are complicated dimensions of the case that require follow-up and unravelling. That the investigation is likely to extend to foreign countries, where some people linked to this trans-national drug trafficking activities reside.
“That it is in line with the above that the Applicant is applying to the Honourable Court for a period of 14 days in the first instance to detain the respondents to enable it carry out its investigation successfully.”
In her ruling, Mrs Abubakar granted the NDLEA’s prayer and directed that the agency should at the expiration of the 14 days detention order either seek an extension, file a charge against the suspects or arraign them before the court.
Mr Kyari and the four other police officers were arrested and handed over to NDLEA on Monday, February 14, by police authorities, five hours after the agency declared him wanted in connection with the drug deal.
Meanwhile, Inyang Ekwo, the Federal High Court judge in Abuja who refused Mr Kyari’s bail request had fixed February 24 for a hearing of the full application after ordering Mr Kyari’s lawyer to put the NDLEA on notice concerning the pending application.
