The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, on Monday, implored an Abuja Federal High Court not to grant bail to the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP, Abba Kyari
This is contained in a 21-paragraph counter-affidavit it presented before the court, which also insisted that Kyari posed a flight risk.
It told the court that Kyari, who was the head of the Police Intelligence Response Team, IRT, would excape from the country and make himself unavailable for trial, should he be released from custody.
While adopting the counter-affidavit before trial Justice Emeka Nwite on Monday, the NDLEA, through its Director, Prosecution & Legal Services, Mr. Joseph Sunday, equally maintained that the former IRT boss has the capacity to interfere with its witnesses.
The Prosecution counsel told the court that bundles of exhibits marked NDLEA 1 to 5, where attached to the counter-affidavit.
However, Kyari, in his bail application that was moved by Mr. Mahmud Magaji, SAN, prayed the court to grant him bail on liberal conditions.
Arguing that the charge against him contained bailable offences, the embattled DCP, urged the court to invoke the powers donated to it by the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to exercise discretion in his favour.
The bail application was anchored on Sections 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as Section 164 and 165 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015.
The Defendant, who earlier beefed up his legal team with four SANs led by a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Kanu Agabi, SAN, argued that the Constitution provided that he must be accorded every facility to adequately prepare for his defence.
Meanwhile, while the 2nd, 4th and 5th Defendants, through their respective lawyers, also prayed the court to release them on bail, pending the determination of the case against them, the 3rd Defendant, applied for time to respond to a counter-affidavit the NDLEA filed in opposition to his bail request.
The NDLEA equally urged the court to deny all the Defendants bail and rather okay accelerated hearing of the case.
The other Defendants in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/57/2022, were four former members of the Police IRT, ACP Sunday J. Ubia, ASP Bawa James, Insp. Simon Agirigba and Insp. John Nuhu, as well as two drug traffickers that were arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne.
