DCP Abba Kyari, the former commander of the Force Intelligence Response Team, has been granted a two-week bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja to attend to his late mother’s burial rites.
Kyari, who has been in detention for the past 27 months, was given this temporary release to enable him to fulfill the burial rites for his mother, Yachilla Kyari, who passed away recently.
The court has scheduled Friday, May 31, for the determination of Kyari’s bail application in the ongoing trial over drug-related charges brought against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. Kyari was arrested over two years ago, on February 14, 2022.
It should be recalled that Kyari's mother passed away on the early morning of Sunday, May 5, 2024. She is survived by 10 children, including Kyari, who is the eldest son. Despite his inability to attend the burial, the residents of Borno State turned out in large numbers to pay their respects to Yachilla, who was buried according to Islamic rites the same day.
In 2022, the Police Service Commission suspended Kyari along with two senior police officers, Sunday Ubua and James Bawa, who were implicated in a cocaine deal involving the then-deputy commissioner of police.
The statement from the Police Service Commission read: “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.”
Additionally, the NDLEA had declared Kyari wanted for alleged links with an international drug cartel. Femi Babalola, the spokesperson for the NDLEA, alleged that Kyari and his Intelligence Response Team had arrested some drug traffickers who had arrived in the country from Ethiopia with 25kg of cocaine but had taken 15kg of the seized substance for themselves.