The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday dismissed the testimony of suspended police officer Abba Kyari’s defence witness in his cocaine trafficking trial. This case involves Mr Kyari and four other police officers, charged by the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Mr Kyari, who was a deputy commissioner of police and led the now-disbanded Intelligence Response Team (IRT), faces trial with four members of his team. They are accused of mishandling cocaine seized from two convicted drug traffickers in January 2022.
Judge Emeka Nwite dismissed Mr Kyari’s second defence witness, El-John Nwoke, and threw out his prior evidence on Wednesday because he missed two court hearings in a row. On Monday, the hearing was delayed after the judge granted an adjournment due to Mr Nwoke’s illness, although the judge found his request for two weeks to recover unconvincing.
During the Monday hearing, NDLEA’s lawyer, Joseph Sunday, reminded everyone that the previous proceedings on 29 September were also delayed because the defence claimed Mr Nwoke was out of the country for a course. Mr Nwoke, who is a police inspector, did not show up in court again on Wednesday, which led the prosecution to push for the dismissal of his evidence.
Julius Mba, the lawyer for Mr Kyari and the fourth defendant, Simon Agirgba, suggested that Mr Nwoke might not have known about the rescheduled hearing. In his ruling, Judge Nwite stated that the witness had enough time to present his evidence and be questioned by the prosecution but failed to do so.
The judge then closed the witness' testimony and struck out his evidence that the prosecution did not have a chance to cross-examine. This situation is a setback for Mr Kyari. His defence argues that he and his team are being unfairly targeted because they arrested two cocaine traffickers who were improperly allowed entry by NDLEA officials at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, in January 2022.
Mr Nwoke, the dismissed witness, had previously shared details in court about police investigations into the two cocaine smugglers and their confessions shortly after their arrest by Mr Kyari’s team. After the judge's ruling, Mr Mba reminded the court about a subpoena that requested the NDLEA to provide a list of its officers on duty at the airport on 19 January 2022, when the traffickers were allowed to pass before their arrest.
Mr Mba said this information would help the defence decide how to move forward in the case. However, Mr Sunday, the prosecution lawyer, challenged the subpoena because it was directed to the NDLEA director general, a role he said does not exist at the agency. He added that the agency has a chairman/chief executive officer and a secretary instead.
He assured the court that an NDLEA officer would bring the requested list of personnel on duty at the airport on Thursday. The judge then postponed the case until 8 October for the trial to continue.
The NDLEA charged Mr Kyari on 14 February 2022 after declaring him wanted for alleged links to an international drug cartel. He was arraigned for cocaine charges on 7 March 2022 alongside four IRT members: 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.
The NDLEA accused them of illegally handling and tampering with the cocaine seized from the traffickers. The prosecution claims the defendants removed 17.55kg from the 21.35kg of cocaine they seized and replaced it with something else. In another charge against Mr Kyari alone, the NDLEA accused him of trying to bribe a senior anti-narcotic officer with $61,400 to prevent testing of the 17.55kg of cocaine.
The defendants have denied the charges and started their defence last year after the prosecution presented its witnesses and evidence. Mr Kyari's legal team claims he and his IRT members are innocent and targeted after arresting the two traffickers who had been cleared by NDLEA officers.
On 28 January, Mr Nwoke, Mr Kyari’s second defence witness, testified about how NDLEA officers allegedly helped Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne get past security checks at Enugu International Airport on 19 January 2022, when they arrived from Ethiopia with cocaine. He said the IRT, led by Mr Kyari, arrested the traffickers right after NDLEA officers cleared them.
Mr Nwoke mentioned that he worked with the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja when the IRT arrested the two suspects and brought them in for questioning. He said he was part of the team that interviewed the suspects on 20 January 2022 and recorded their statements. The recorded video was saved onto a digital video disc (DVD).
He noted that the convicted traffickers, who were initially charged with Mr Kyari and the four police officers but later pleaded guilty in 2022 and were sentenced to two years, confessed that they were arrested by the police after NDLEA officers at the airport cleared them.
Mr Nwoke said the traffickers explained how NDLEA officers used sign language to help them avoid security checks upon arrival, before the police arrested them. On 28 February, the court accepted the video recording presented by Mr Nwoke as Exhibit D-3. This video showed Mr Umeibe and Mr Ezenwanne making confessions. The video was played in court on 16 March, where the two men described how they allegedly avoided security checks at the airport. In the 27-minute video, they explained how NDLEA officers helped them bypass security checks before the IRT arrested them.
Drop your comment
No comments yet — be the first to drop the gist 👇