A fresh twist has emerged in the ongoing cocaine trial of suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari, as the Federal High Court in Abuja orders the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to produce the duty roster of its personnel who were on duty at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, when two convicted cocaine traffickers entered Nigeria in 2022.
Justice Emeka Nwite issues a subpoena to NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa, directing the agency to produce the list at the request of Kyari, who is standing trial over alleged cocaine-related offences involving the two traffickers.
Kyari’s counsel, Julius Mba, brings the subpoena to the court’s attention during Monday’s proceedings, stating that it was signed by Justice Nwite on October 2.
Kyari, the former head of the now-defunct Police Intelligence Response Team, is standing trial alongside four other members of the unit over charges filed by the NDLEA.
The co-defendants are Assistant Commissioner of Police Sunday J. Ubua, Assistant Superintendent of Police Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirgba and Inspector John Nuhu.
The NDLEA alleges that Kyari and the four police officers dealt in 21.35 kilogrammes of cocaine and tampered with the seized substance by removing 17.55 kilogrammes and replacing it with another substance.
In a separate charge against Kyari alone, the agency accuses him of attempting to obstruct its operations by offering 61,400 dollars to a senior anti-narcotics officer to prevent the testing of the 17.55 kilogrammes of cocaine.
The defendants have denied the allegations and are now presenting their defence after the prosecution concluded its case and tendered its witnesses and exhibits.
At the centre of Kyari’s latest defence strategy is the airport duty roster.
His legal team wants the list of NDLEA personnel on duty on January 19, 2022, when Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne allegedly brought 21.35 kilogrammes of cocaine into Nigeria through the Akanu Ibiam International Airport.
The defence maintains that NDLEA officers at the airport cleared the two men before members of Kyari’s IRT arrested them.
Kyari’s lawyers intend to use the roster to support their argument that the officers who cleared the suspects at the airport, rather than Kyari and his team, may have played a role in the alleged drug trafficking.
Dispute over adjournment
The latest development comes amid a disagreement between the defence and prosecution over the continuation of the trial.
Kyari’s lawyer, Julius Mba, asks the court for an adjournment, citing the ill health of the defence’s second witness, police inspector El-John Nwonke.
Mba says the defence had earlier written to the court seeking an adjournment after Nwonke became unavailable to continue his testimony.
However, NDLEA counsel, Joseph Sunday, opposes the request and challenges the subpoena, arguing that the agency has not been served with the document.
Sunday also recalls that the proceedings had previously stalled because of Nwonke’s absence, after the defence informed the court that the witness was away on official duty outside the country.
The prosecution argues that the court had already warned that Nwonke’s evidence could be foreclosed if he failed to appear.
It therefore urges Justice Nwite to reject the adjournment request, foreclose the witness’s testimony and direct the defence to proceed with another witness.
The defence, however, maintains that Nwonke’s earlier absence was due to an official assignment and that he subsequently informed the court that he was indisposed.
Mba also insists that although the defence applied for the subpoena several days earlier, he only received the signed document on Monday after it was issued by the judge.
Court grants adjournment
After listening to both sides, Justice Nwite grants the defence’s request for an adjournment, although the judge expresses reservations about the explanation given for the witness’s absence.
The court fixes October 7 for the continuation and cross-examination of Nwonke and warns that failure by the witness to appear will result in his evidence being foreclosed.
Justice Nwite also directs lawyers representing the first to fifth defendants to submit the names of the witnesses they intend to call before the next hearing.
Defence links NDLEA officers to airport checks
Kyari has so far called two witnesses, with Nwonke serving as the second defence witness.
During his testimony, Nwonke alleges that NDLEA officers assisted Umeibe and Ezenwanne in passing through security checks at the Enugu airport after they arrived from Ethiopia with the substance suspected to be cocaine.
Nwonke, who served with the Force Criminal Investigation Department in Abuja, says the two men were arrested by members of the IRT shortly after they were cleared by NDLEA officers at the airport.
He says he was part of the team that interviewed the suspects on January 20, 2022, during which their statements were obtained and the session recorded.
The recorded interview was subsequently transferred to a digital video disc and later admitted in evidence as Exhibit D-3.
The 27-minute video was played in open court, with the two convicted traffickers describing how they allegedly bypassed security checks at the airport before their arrest by the IRT.
Umeibe and Ezenwanne had initially been charged alongside Kyari and the four police officers but later pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to two years in prison.
How the case began
The NDLEA arraigned Kyari and four members of the IRT on March 7, 2022, alongside Umeibe and Ezenwanne, who were arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport over the alleged importation of cocaine into Nigeria.
The agency alleges that Kyari and members of his team tampered with cocaine recovered from the two men after their arrest.
Kyari and the four suspended IRT officers face charges relating to the alleged dealing in 21.35 kilogrammes of cocaine between January 19 and 25, 2022.
The NDLEA also alleges that 17.55 kilogrammes of the seized cocaine was removed and replaced with another substance.
In a separate count, Kyari alone faces an allegation that he attempted to obstruct the NDLEA by offering 61,400 dollars to a senior anti-narcotics officer to prevent the testing of the 17.55 kilogrammes of cocaine.
The court admitted the 61,400 dollars as evidence in July 2022, alongside 24 packs of cocaine tendered by the prosecution.
An NDLEA operative, Peter Joshua, told the court that the foreign currency was allegedly given to him on January 25, 2022, after he weighed and conducted preliminary tests on the cocaine seized from Umeibe and Ezenwanne.
With the court now directing the NDLEA to produce its airport duty roster, attention shifts to the next stage of the trial and whether the document will strengthen Kyari’s defence as the prosecution’s allegations continue to face scrutiny in court.
