Cocaine deal: Court permits NDLEA to detain Abba Kyari, six others for 14 day

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday granted an application by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to detain for 14 days, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari and six others under investigation over their alleged involvement in a 25 kilograms cocaine deal.

The judge, Justice Zainab Dimka Abubakar, gave the order following the application by the anti-narcotic agency, argued by its Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Mr Sunday Joseph.

The agency, in the ex-parte application, dated February 15, 2022, and marked FHC/ABJ/CS/111/2022,
sought the leave of the court to detain the suspects in NDLEA custody for 14 days pending the conclusion of investigation.

Suspects affected by the order include DCP Abba Kyari, ACP Sunday J. Ubia, ASP James Bawa, Inspector Simon Agirigba, Inspector John Nuhu, Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alfonsus Ezenwanne.

In an affidavit on support of the motion, the NDLEA stated that the 6th and 7th respondents (Umeibe and Ezenwanne) confessed upon their arrest in Enugu that they imported the seized cocaine through Addis-Ababa to Enugu on January 19, 2022.

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It further disclosed that “the 1st to 5th respondents (Kyari, Ubia, Bawa, Agirigba and Nuhu) are police officers who carried out the arrest of the 6th and 7th respondents and transferred them to NDLEA for further investigation.

“That investigation by the NDLEA revealed that the 1st to 5th respondents have compromised the whole operation and were involved in the importation, trafficking, and dealing and also tampered with the recovered cocaine.

“That the 1st to 5th respondents have volunteered their statements upon preliminary investigation, which has shown complicity in the case. Copies of statements are hereby attached and marked Annexure NDLEA 4,5,6,7,8, & 9 respectively.

“That the investigation will take some time as there are complicated dimensions of the case that require follow-up and unravelling. That the investigation is likely to extend to foreign countries, where some people linked to this trans-national drug trafficking activities reside.

“That it is in line with the above that the Applicant is applying to the Honourable Court for a period of 14 days in the first instance to detain the respondents to enable it carry out its investigation successfully,” NDLEA stated in the supporting affidavit.

In her ruling, Justice Abubakar granted the NDLEA’s prayer and directed that the Agency should at the expiration of the 14 days detention order either seek an extension, file a charge against the suspects or arraign them before the court.

Kyari and the four other police officers were arrested and handed over to NDLEA on February 14, 2022 by police authorities, five hours after the Agency declared him wanted in connection with the drug deal.