The Federal High Court in Abuja has told the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to provide the list of its staff on duty at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, when two convicted cocaine traffickers linked to senior police officer Abba Kyari passed through security checks in 2022.
Judge Emeka Nwite issued a subpoena to NDLEA chairman Buba Marwa to bring the airport roster. This was done at the request of Mr Kyari, the former head of the now-disbanded Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), who is facing cocaine charges involving the two traffickers.
Mr Kyari’s lawyer, Julius Mba, brought the subpoena to the court's attention on Monday. He said the judge signed the subpoena on 2 October.
Mr Kyari, a suspended deputy commissioner of police, is on trial with four IRT members indicted by the NDLEA for cocaine dealing. The co-defendants are Sunday J. Ubua, an assistant commissioner of police; Bawa James, an assistant superintendent of police; Simon Agirgba, an inspector; and John Nuhu, also an inspector.
Charges Against Kyari
Mr Kyari faces several charges, including illicit dealing in cocaine and tampering with 21.35kg of cocaine seized from the two traffickers. He allegedly removed 17.55kg of it and replaced it with another substance.
In one charge, the NDLEA claims Mr Kyari attempted to obstruct its officers by offering $61,400 to a senior anti-narcotics operative as a bribe to prevent testing the 17.55kg of cocaine.
The defendants have denied all charges and began their defense last year, after the prosecution completed calling its witnesses.
Mr Kyari is looking to strengthen his defense with the NDLEA staff list from when Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne brought in 21.35kg of cocaine into Nigeria through the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on 19 January 2022.
He hopes to use the roster to support his claim that NDLEA officers who cleared Umeibe and Ezenwanne during airport checks were the ones involved in the cocaine trafficking, not him or his team.
In a 2022 court filing, he claimed that “corrupt” NDLEA officials framed him after he asked for a reward for a whistleblower who helped the IRT catch a suspect.
Court Proceedings
During Monday’s hearings, Mr Kyari's lawyer, Julius Mba, announced that they received the signed subpoena that day. He explained that the subpoena requires the NDLEA to bring certified copies of the list of staff on duty at the airport on 19 January 2022. This is for the court's inspection and for the defense of Mr Kyari and Mr Agirgba.
Though the defense was supposed to continue its case on Monday, Mr Mba asked for an adjournment due to the illness of their second witness, El-John Nwonke, a police inspector called to testify.
Mr Mba noted that a letter dated 2 October was sent through the deputy chief registrar to seek this adjournment because Mr Nwonke was unavailable due to health reasons.
The prosecutor for the NDLEA, Joseph Sunday, opposed both the adjournment request and the subpoena, claiming it had not been served on the agency. He also said he only saw the letter seeking adjournment on that Monday.
“We don’t conduct trials by ambush. We are not aware of any subpoena, my lord,” he said.
He recalled how earlier court sessions were delayed because Mr Nwonke was absent, after a lawyer from Mr Kyari's team, A.A. Akas, had informed the court that the witness was on official duty outside the country.
Judge's Ruling
The judge adjourned the case until Monday, warning that Mr Nwonke's evidence could be lost if he failed to appear. He expressed surprise at the defense bringing a letter for adjournment on health grounds on that Monday. The judge also criticized the letter for not providing details about the nature of the witness’ illness or where he was being treated.
Also questioning Mr Nwonke’s request for a two-week absence, Mr Sunday said, “The DW 2 (second defense witness) has turned himself into a medical doctor and is taking the position of God to determine that the sickness will be for exactly two weeks.”
He argued that allowing the adjournment request would harm the criminal justice process and asked the court to prevent Mr Nwonke from testifying and direct the defense to call their next witness.
Mr Mba countered Mr Sunday’s arguments. He said that Mr Akas had the information that Mr Nwonke was on official duty during the previous sessions. He added that the witness informed the court of his health issue after returning.
On the subpoena, Mr Mba confirmed that even though they applied for it earlier, he only received it on Monday after the judge signed it on 2 October. He clarified that the letter did not come from him and objected to claims that he violated the court's order.
Judge Nwite agreed to the adjournment but did so reluctantly. He said the witness’ letter was not convincing enough but chose to postpone the proceedings in the interest of justice. He set 7 October (Wednesday) for Mr Nwonke’s testimony and cross-examination.
“Failure of the witness to appear on the said date means that his testimony will be foreclosed,” the judge ruled.
He also instructed lawyers for the first to fifth defendants to submit the names of witnesses they plan to call before the next hearing.
So far, Mr Kyari has called two witnesses, with Mr Nwonke being the second.
On 28 January, El-John Nwonke, a police inspector, testified about how NDLEA officers allegedly helped the convicts, Mr Umeibe and Mr Ezenwanne, avoid security checks at the airport on 19 January 2022, when they arrived from Ethiopia with suspected cocaine.
Mr Nwonke, the second defense witness, said the disbanded IRT, a police unit focused on serious crimes led by Mr Kyari, arrested the cocaine traffickers shortly after NDLEA officers cleared them.
He stated he was part of the team that interviewed the suspects on 20 January 2022 when their statements were recorded.
The witness mentioned that the recorded video was later saved onto a digital video disc (DVD).
Confessions in Court
Mr Nwonke said the two traffickers, who were charged with Mr Kyari and the four police officers but later convicted and jailed for two years after pleading guilty in 2022, confessed that police officers arrested them with the substance at the airport after NDLEA officers cleared them.
The defense witness explained that the convicted drug traffickers shared how NDLEA officers used sign language to help them pass security checks before police arrested them.
On 28 February, the court accepted the video recording presented by Mr Nwonke as Exhibit D-3. This recording showed Mr Umeibe and Mr Ezenwanne confessing.
The video was played in open court on 16 March, where the two men explained how they allegedly bypassed airport security checks.
In a 27-minute video clip, Messrs Umeibe and Ezenwanne described how NDLEA officers helped them avoid security checks at the Enugu International Airport before their IRT arrest.
On 7 March 2022, the NDLEA brought Mr Kyari and four IRT members to court with Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, the two accused drug traffickers arrested at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu for smuggling cocaine.
Messrs Umeibe and Ezenwanne pleaded guilty and each received a two-year prison sentence.
The NDLEA claimed that Mr Kyari and his team tampered with and removed part of the cocaine taken from Messrs Umeibe and Ezenwanne after their arrest at the airport.
The agency charged Mr Kyari and the four suspended IRT members with dealing in 21.35kg of cocaine between 19 and 25 January 2022, which violates section 11(c) of the NDLEA Act.
In one charge, the agency claimed that Mr Kyari and the four IRT officers tampered with 21.35kg of cocaine by taking 17.55kg and “substituting it with another substance,” violating section 14(b) of the NDLEA Act.
The prosecutors also accused Mr Kyari, as the only defendant in one count, of trying to obstruct NDLEA by offering $61,400 to an anti-narcotics officer to stop testing the 17.55kg of cocaine.
In July 2022, the court accepted $61,400 in cash that Mr Kyari allegedly offered to an NDLEA officer as a bribe.
The court took this cash along with 24 packs of cocaine presented by its third witness, Peter Joshua, an NDLEA officer.
Mr Joshua told the court that he received the cash from Mr Kyari on 25 January 2022 after testing the cocaine wraps taken from Messrs Umeibe and Ezenwanne.
Messrs Umeibe and Ezenwanne were sentenced to two years each after pleading guilty.
But Mr Kyari and the four co-defendants denied involvement in the drug crime, even though there is video evidence showing Mr Kyari allegedly trying to bribe NDLEA officials to influence the investigation.
In October 2022, NDLEA’s fourth prosecution witness, Mohammed Ajia, a commander at the agency, stated that forensic tests showed that 80 percent of the tested substance was cocaine. The other 20 percent was a different substance.
In April 2025, the court decided that Mr Kyari and his co-defendants had a case to answer and required them to present their defense. The judge said, “assuming without conceding that the defendants were charged with less cocaine than 17.55 kg or more, it does not take away the fact that there is prima facie evidence that the 1st defendant dealt or tampered with cocaine.”
The trial was delayed after the defense played the video of the convicted traffickers’ confession in March.
This happened due to Judge Nwite's initial shortlist for a promotion to the Court of Appeal, but he did not make the final list.
The trial resumed on 29 September, about eight months after Mr Nwonke first testified.
Mr Kyari and his co-defendants are attending trial from prison, where they have been held after their bail requests were denied multiple times.
Earlier in March, Mr Kyari and two of his brothers were cleared in a separate case about not declaring their assets.
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