Court Approves Continued Detention Of Abba Kyari, Others

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has been given the approval to detain the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, for 14 days.

Justice Zainab Abubakar of the Federal High Court in Abuja gave the approval on Tuesday while ruling in an ex-parte application argued by the NDLEA counsel, Joseph Sunday.

Naija News reports that Sunday had requested that the court should grant the NDLEA more time to detain Kyari on the ground that the hard drug trafficking allegations against the suspect were complex.

The lawyer added that the anti-narcotic agency may need to travel outside the country to investigate the matter and get some clarifications regarding the drug cartel working with Kyari.

He, however, asked the court to grant the detention extension in the interest of justice and to be fair to the suspect through diligent investigation.

In her ruling, Justice Abubakar granted the extension request made by the NDLEA pending the outcome of its investigation into the cocaine trafficking allegations against the embattled police officer.

She also gave the order for the detention of Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus for 14 days in the NDLEA facility in Abuja pending investigation.

The presiding judge, therefore, ruled that the suspended head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) be held in NDLEA custody for another 14 days pending investigation.

Justice Abubakar, however, ordered that the extension of Kyari’s detention should start counting from February 22.