Abba Kyari, the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police has received a warm welcome from his family members after being released from prison custody.
Kyari was released from the Kuje Custodial Centre in the Federal Capital Territory after spending 27 months in detention.
He was arrested on February 14, 2022, by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency over alleged connections to an international drug cartel.
Kyari was seen in the company of his family members, with a design on the wall that reads, “Welcome back.”
Kyari, along with four members of the Police Intelligence Response Team—Sunday Ubia, Bawa James, Simon Agirigba, and John Nuhu—was arraigned on March 7, 2022.
Others are Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne, two suspected drug traffickers who were arrested at Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu.
Upon arraignment, Kyari and four other defendants pleaded not guilty.
However, Umeibe and Ezenwanne, the sixth and seventh defendants, pleaded guilty and were convicted accordingly.
On May 22, 2024, Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, granted Kyari a two-week bail to allow him to partake in the burial rites of his mother, Yachilla Kyari, who died on May 5.
The judge ruled that Kyari should deposit his international passport with the court and report to any anti-narcotic agency formation near him within the bail period.
Though, Kyari had also lodged another application seeking bail.
The judge fixed May 31 for the determination of Kyari’s main application for bail in the drug trafficking charge.
The court granted him bail on Friday. He was released shortly after perfecting his bail conditions.