The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, ordered the suspended DCP Abba Kyari and his co-defendants to enter their defence in the charge preferred against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, in separate rulings on their no-case submission applications, held that a prima facie case had been made out against them in the charge.
Kyari, the 1st defendant and a former head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Police, was arrested on February 14, 2022, after the NDLEA declared him wanted over alleged links to an international drug cartel.
The suspended DCP and four members of the IRT – ACP Sunday J. Ubua, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirgba, and Inspector John Nuhu – are being prosecuted on charges bordering on conspiracy to deal in 17.55kg of cocaine.
They are also accused of dealing in cocaine without lawful authority, conspiracy to tamper with cocaine, and unlawfully tampering with the 21.35kg of cocaine seized from two convicted drug dealers.
On March 7, 2022, Kyari and others were arraigned alongside Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne, the two suspected drug traffickers who were arrested at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, by the officers.
Upon arraignment, Kyari and the four other defendants pleaded not guilty, while Umeibe and Ezenwanne, the 6th and 7th defendants, pleaded guilty and were convicted accordingly.
After the NDLEA closed its case, each of the defendants opted for a no-case submission, arguing that no evidence had been adduced by the prosecution on which the court could convict them.
Delivering his ruling on the no-case submission, Justice Nwite held that, with the state of evidence led so far by the prosecution, he was convinced that a prima facie case had been established against the defendants to require them to put forward their defence.
He held the same view in the five separate rulings he delivered on Friday. In a ruling on Kyari’s application, the judge held that “assuming without conceding that the defendants were charged with less amount of cocaine that is lesser than 17.55kg or more than that, it does not take away the fact that there is prima facie evidence that the 1st defendant dealt or tampered with cocaine.”
He added that the argument of the 1st defendant’s lawyer on the need to sufficiently prove the amount of cocaine on the face of the charge is not the requirement of the law.
The judge held that there is nothing on the face of the section of the law on which the defendants were charged that states or provides different punishment as it relates to the quantity or amount of cocaine, whether the charge provides for 1 kilogram or more.
According to the judge, “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 1st defendant in the five-count charge, and I hereby order him to enter his defence in all the five counts.”
The judge issued a similar order in relation to the other four defendants and consequently adjourned the matter till May 21 for the defendants to open their defence.
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