The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has denied reports that the embattled deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Mr. Abba Kyari and his alleged accomplices are not safe in Kuje Correctional Centre where they are being held on allegation of drug racketeering.
Recall that a federal high court had, on March 28, remanded Kyari and four others at the correctional centre after their bail application was turned down.
Yesterday (Thursday), Kyari approached a Federal High Court for another bail plea saying they were not safe in the Kuje Correctional Centre, where they are being remanded
Mr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, counsel for Kyari and suspended ACP Sunday Ubia, informed the court that an application seeking bail for the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th defendants had been filed and served on the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
He said the application became necessary due to the nature of the work the defendants had done in the course of policing the country.
Ikpeazu said the defendants were being remanded with criminals in the correctional centre, who through them, their arrests were made possible.
He said the lives of his clients are at risk, hence, the need for their bail.
Four suspended police officers, including ACP Ubia, ASP Bawa James, Inspectors Simon Agirigba and John Nuhu, listed as 2nd to 5th defendants respectively, are being charged by the NDLEA for alleged drug offence alongside Kyari.
Reacting to the report on threat to the lives of the five inmates, spokesman for the correctional service, Mr. Francis Enobore, described it as “fake news”.
“The story is false, reckless and mischievous.
“It is the handiwork of some jobless cheap recognition-seeking charlatans masquerading as newsmen, lacking in intellectual capacity to interrogate what they conjure or hear before feeding the public.
“That the author is completely oblivious of where and how detention of a suspect originates speaks volume of his ineptitude and the much his story can be relied upon.
“For the record, Abba Kyari is one of the over 800 inmates in the location where he is being kept.
“However, notable individuals including ex-governors, ministers, senators and other celebrities of higher social status have passed through the same facility without any threat to their lives,” he said.
Enobore added that the authorities of the Nigerian Correctional Service has no cause to request for the transfer of Kyari or any inmate to any other detention centre outside its jurisdiction.
He added that Kyari is safe and sound and goes about his daily routine like any other inmate unharmed.
“Those playing pranks with his detention are warned to desist from such unpatriotic acts as they may be asked, through formal litigation, to justify their statement.
“The controller-general, NCoS, Mr. Haliru Nababa, is determined to continue to upscale inmates’ welfare, safe and humane custody with fervour. Therefore, he will not be distracted by inane publications,” he added.
