I hid like a rat when terrorists attacked Kuje Prison – Kyari
Abba Kyari, a suspended senior police officer being tried for drugs, has told a judge how he hid from terrorists during an attack on Kuje Custodial Center.
A faction of the Boko Haram terrorists, known as Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), invaded the prison on 5 July, setting their members and other several other inmates free.
Kyari, through his lawyer, Onyekachi Ikpeazu, urged the judge to grant him bail, based on his ordeal.
“My lord, every living soul in this country will agree that there was not just a breach, but that there was a grand terrorist attack by an organisation that not only successfully invaded the Kuje prison, but took control of it for over three hours. However, the applicant, being a law-abiding citizen, refused to take off.
“If there is anything to establish that the defendants will not jump bail, it was that circumstance. The gates of the prison were left open for over three hours.
“In fact, the defendant hid like a rat, because the organisation that conducted the attack went from cell to cell, saying they want to take him and the others to the desert. I don’t know where else in the world, where certified crime fighters that have endangered their lives and abandoned their families to serve the country, are kept in the same cubicle with same criminals they made their arrest possible, with some of them facing death penalty.”
Ikpeazu, SAN, similarly urged that bail be granted to the, 4th and 5th defendants too, who are also police officers.
However, Sunday Joseph, counsel to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), opposed the bail application.
The trial judge, Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter until Aug. 30 for a ruling.
