Court Orders NDLEA Boss to Produce Airport Duty Roster in Abba Kyari Cocaine Trial

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), to produce certified records of all agency personnel who were on duty at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu on January 19, 2022.

Justice Emeka Nwite issued the directive on Monday during the ongoing trial of suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari and four other former members of the defunct Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT). The order followed a subpoena duces tecum filed by the defence, which the court signed on October 2. Defence counsel Julius Mba told the court the document was only received that morning.

The subpoena requires the NDLEA chairman to bring before the court, for inspection and use in the proceedings, the certified true copies of the full list of NDLEA officers deployed at the Enugu airport on the day two suspected drug traffickers were arrested. The defence maintains the records are necessary for a proper consideration of the case against Kyari and Inspector Simon Agirgba.

Kyari, former head of the IRT, is standing trial alongside ACP Sunday J. Ubua, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirgba and Inspector John Nuhu. They face charges of conspiracy, obstruction and alleged tampering with cocaine recovered from two traffickers, Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, who were arrested at the airport in January 2022. Umeibe and Ezenwanne earlier pleaded guilty, were convicted in June 2022 and have completed their sentences. Kyari and the police officers pleaded not guilty.

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The case, which has stretched over several years, resumed after an earlier indefinite adjournment linked to Justice Nwite’s shortlisting for elevation to the Court of Appeal.

In late September the court ordered day-to-day hearing until conclusion, citing the need to dispose of the matter without further delay while the defendants remain in custody.

Monday’s sitting was marked by sharp exchanges after the second defence witness, Inspector John Nwonke (also referred to as El-John Nwonke or Nwoke), failed to appear for the continuation of his evidence and cross-examination. Mba informed the court that a letter dated October 2 had been filed indicating the witness was ill. The letter was addressed to the deputy chief registrar and copied to lead defence counsel Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN.

NDLEA counsel Joseph Sunday strongly opposed any adjournment. He recalled that on the previous date the court had been told Nwonke was on official duty outside the country and had been ordered to appear on Monday with a warning that further non-appearance could lead to foreclosure of his evidence. Sunday described the illness letter as unconvincing, noting it failed to specify the nature of the sickness or the hospital involved, and applied for the witness’s testimony to be foreclosed and treated as incomplete.

Mba rejected the suggestion of deliberate delay, insisting the application was made in the interest of justice and a full determination of the defence on the merits. He clarified that the earlier information about the witness being on official assignment had not changed and that the illness letter came after the witness’s return.

Justice Nwite ruled that the letter was not sufficiently persuasive to justify a longer adjournment. In the interest of justice, however, he granted one final opportunity. The matter was adjourned to Wednesday, October 7, for Nwonke to continue and conclude his testimony and face cross-examination. The judge warned that failure to appear on that date would result in the foreclosure of the witness’s evidence. He also directed counsel for the first to fifth defendants to submit the list of remaining witnesses they intend to call before the next sitting.

Nwonke, a police officer previously attached to the Force Criminal Investigation Department, has already given evidence for the defence. In earlier testimony he told the court that the two convicted traffickers had described how NDLEA operatives at the Enugu airport allegedly helped them bypass security checks before their arrest by IRT officers. A video recording containing their statements was admitted as an exhibit earlier in the trial.

The defence’s request for the NDLEA duty roster is seen as an attempt to probe the identity and activities of the anti-narcotics officers present at the airport on the day of the seizure. The prosecution has maintained that Kyari and his team interfered with the cocaine recovered from the traffickers.

The trial continues under the court’s accelerated hearing order. All parties have been directed to prepare for the next sitting without further excuses that could prolong the long-running case.