The Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected the no-case submission filed by suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, and six others in their ongoing drug trafficking trial.
Justice Emeka Nwite, in his ruling on Friday, held that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the defendants, thereby requiring them to open their defences.
Kyari and his co-defendants are standing trial for allegedly tampering with and trafficking cocaine. Specifically, they are accused of dealing with 17.55 kilograms of the drug, out of a total 21.35 kilograms seized by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The NDLEA had arraigned Kyari and other police officers—Sunday Ubia, Bawa James, Simon Agirigba, and John Nuhu—alongside two alleged traffickers, Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne, on a five-count charge of drug trafficking.
The charge partly reads, “That you, DCP Abba Kyari, ACP Sunday J. Ubua, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirigba, and Inspector John Nuhu, all male adults, on or about the 19th to 25th of January 2022, within the office of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, unlawfully tampered with 21.35 kilograms of cocaine seized from Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne in the custody of the IGP-IRT, by removing and disposing of 17.55 kilograms of the cocaine and substituting it with another substance.”
While Abba Kyari and his fellow officers pleaded not guilty, Umeibe and Ezenwanne admitted guilt, entered plea bargains with the NDLEA, and were sentenced to two years in prison on June 14, 2022.
During the trial, the NDLEA presented multiple witnesses to support its allegations. In response, the defence filed a no-case submission, claiming insufficient evidence had been presented.
However, in dismissing that argument, Justice Nwite ruled, “Even assuming, without conceding, that the defendants were charged with an amount of cocaine either less than or greater than 17.55 kilograms, it does not negate the fact that there is prima facie evidence that Kyari tampered with or dealt in cocaine.”
The judge further clarified that the quantity of cocaine involved is immaterial under the applicable law, “There is absolutely nothing in the section under which the defendants were charged that provides for different punishments based on the quantity of cocaine,” he stated.
“In view of the foregoing, I am of the view, and I so hold, that a prima facie case has been made out against the first defendant (Abba Kyari) in the five-count charge of drug trafficking. I hereby order him to enter his defence on all five counts,” he ruled.
Justice Nwite also rejected the no-case submissions of the other defendants and directed all of them to open their defences.
The case has been adjourned to May 21 for continuation of trial.
