Court gives Abba Kyari, others final chance to file defence witnesses’ list in cocaine trial

Judge Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday gave suspended Abba Kyari and four other police officers facing cocaine charges the final opportunity to file their lists of defence witnesses.

The judge warned that failure to comply could lead to a forced closure of their defence.

He issued the warning after expressing displeasure over the defendants’ failure to obey his 5 October order directing them to submit the names of witnesses they intended to call for their defence.

Judge Nwite said the court’s records showed that none of the defendants had complied with the directive.

“The orders of court must be obeyed,” Judge Nwite said, warning that he would not take violations of the court’s orders lightly.

Mr Kyari, a deputy commissioner of police under suspension by police authorities, is standing trial alongside four members of his now-defunct Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT): Sunday J. Ubua, an assistant commissioner of police; Bawa James, an assistant superintendent of police; Simon Agirgba and John Nuhu, both inspectors.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) accused the five officers of dealing in 21.35kg of cocaine seized from two traffickers at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on 19 January 2022.

The prosecution also charged them with tampering with the narcotic sustance by removing 17.55kg from it and replacing the portion with another substance.

The agency also accused Mr Kyari, in a separate count, of offering $61,400 to an NDLEA operative to prevent the cocaine from being tested. All five denied wrongdoing.

Final opportunity

Friday’s ruling followed a disagreement over whether the defence could question an officer who appeared in court with a list of NDLEA personnel who were on duty at the Enugu airport when the two cocaine smugglers arrived from Ethiopia.

The defence had sought the list through a subpoena to support its case to show the circumstances under which the two cocaine traffickers passed through airport security before their arrest by Mr Kyari-led IRT on the airport ground.

The subpoena stirred controversy on Wednesday after the prosecution challenged it on the grounds that it was addressed to the NDLEA’s director-general, a position the prosecutor said did not exist at the agency.

The prosecution, however, indicated that an officer would produce the requested document, and the case was adjourned until the following day.

On Thursday, Ojebir Victor, whom the prosecution identified as an assistant commander and principal staff officer in charge of personnel statistics, appeared with the list.

After Mr Victor presented the document and took the witness’ oath, the prosecution and defence disagreed over whether an officer subpoenaed to produce the NDLEA airport duty roster could be questioned.

NDLEA’s prosecution lawyer Joseph Sunday argued that the subpoena required the officer only to produce the document, not to give oral evidence, and that the defence should have obtained a separate subpoena requiring him to testify.

The defence lawyer maintained that the officer could be questioned to clarify the document’s contents.

Judge Nwite reserved his ruling until Friday, 9 October, when he rejected the defence’s position and discharged the officer without allowing cross-examination.

The defence then requested an adjournment to prepare for its case.

Mr Sunday opposed the request, arguing that the officer’s discharge did not prevent the defendants from calling another witness. He reminded the court of its earlier order directing the defence to file its witness lists.

He also urged the judge to restrict the defendants from calling additional witnesses and sought costs over the series of adjournments.

Ruling, Judge Nwite rejected the defence’s argument that the circumstances surrounding an officer who produced a subpoenaed document could excuse its failure to comply with the order.

The judge said the officer’s discharge could not have prevented the defendants from identifying their intended witnesses and filing their lists of defence witnesses.

He decided to all the defendants another opportunity to file their lists of defence witnesses, “in the interest of justice.”

He warned that he could “foreclose” their defence should they fail to comply with his directive by the next sitting on 12 October.

How the case has progressed

The case began in March 2022, when the NDLEA arraigned Mr Kyari alongside four other police officers and two cocaine smugglers on cocaine-related charges.

NDLEA accused them of offences linked to 21.35kg of cocaine seized from Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, the two suspected traffickers who smuggled the substance into the country through the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, in January 2022.

The police officers, including Mr Kyari, allegedly tampered with the cocaine after seizing it from the two smugglers who arrived Nigeria from Ethiopia by taking 17.55kg from it and replacing that portion with a look-alike substance.

One of the charges directed solely at Mr Kyari accused him of offering $61,400 to a senior anti-narcotics operative to prevent the testing the cocaine to detect the adulteration.

While Mr Kyari and the four officers pleaded not guilty, Mr Umeibe and Mr Ezenwanne admitted the charges. They were convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment each, terms they have since completed.

The prosecution opened its case against the five officers in July 2022, nearly two months after their arraignment. The NDLEA called 16 prosecution witnesses and tendered about 52 electronic and documentary exhibits.

One prosecution witness, Peter Joshua, an operative of the NDLEA, testified that Mr Kyari offered him $61,400 after he weighed and conducted preliminary tests on the cocaine.

Another prosecution witness, Mohammed Ajia, testified in October 2022 that forensic examinations found that 80 per cent of the substance tested positive for cocaine, while the remaining 20 per cent was another substance.

The prosecution closed its case in July 2024.

In April 2025, Judge Nwite rejected the defendants’ no-case submission, ruling that they had cases to answer and directing them to present their defence.

Mr Kyari opened his defence in July 2025, calling Adeshina Fasasi, a team lead with MTN’s incident management unit, as his first witness.

Subpoenaed at Mr Kyari’s request, Mr Fasasi testified about call data records linked to the suspended police officer.

He told the court that the records did not establish contact between Mr Kyari and a telephone number associated with a suspected cocaine trafficker known as Mike Coke. He also testified that the number saved under the name “Coke” was registered to Ruth Ayuba, not Mr Kyari.

Mr Fasasi explained that MTN’s call data records did not contain the content of telephone conversations, WhatsApp messages or names saved in users’ phone contacts. During cross-examination, he acknowledged that he was not directly employed by MTN Nigeria and had not read the full report tendered before the court.

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Defence evidence hits a setback

The second defence witness, El-John Nwonke, a police inspector, started taking the witness stand in January 2026, testifying that he was part of the police team that interviewed convicted Mr Umeibe and Mr Ezenwanne following their arrest at the Enugu airport in January 2022.

Mr Nwonke told the court that the two men had confessed during the interview that NDLEA officers at Enugu airport helped them pass through security checks before they were arrested with the suspected cocaine.

The interview was recorded on a digital video disc. The court admitted the disc in evidence as Exhibit D-3 on 28 February and the defence played the video recording in open court on 16 March. In the recording, the two men alleged that NDLEA officers helped them evade airport security.

Mr Nwonke’s testimony, however, did not reach cross-examination after he repeatedly failed to attend court.

On 29 September, the defence lawyer sought an adjournment, explaining that the witness was outside Nigeria on an official assignment. When he failed to appear again, the defence submitted a letter seeking more time on the grounds that he was ill.

The prosecution opposed another adjournment and asked the court to close the witness’s evidence. Judge Nwite reluctantly granted more time but warned that the testimony would be foreclosed should the witness fail to appear.

Mr Nwonke was absent again on 7 October, prompting the prosecution to renew its request for the forced closure of the witness’ evidence. The judge granted the request, “foreclosing” the police inspector’s testimony and striking out his evidence. The judge said the witness had been given sufficient time to testify and submit to cross-examination.

Consequently, the prosecution did not cross-examine Mr Nwonke on his testimony.