Appeal Court dismisses Abba Kyari’s request to quash cocaine charges

The Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed on Thursday an appeal to quash the cocaine charges against Abba Kyari, a top police officer, and his co-defendants.

A three-member panel of justices ruled unanimously that Mr Kayri’s appeal was unmeritorious.

A member of the panel, Adebukola Banjoko, who wrote the lead judgement, said there was no reason to tamper with the findings and conclusions of the trial court earlier rejecting Mr Kyari’s request.

Mr Kyari had appealed against the 22 March 2023 decision of Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, earlier rejecting the police officer’s request to quash the charges.

“In conclusion, this court finds no reason to disturb the findings and conclusions reached by the learned trial judge of the Federal High Court in the ruling delivered on 22 March 2023 is affirmed.

“The learned trial judge is directed to continue and conclude the trial at the Federal High Court.

“The appeal is found unmeritorious, and it is accordingly dismissed,” Ms Banjoko ruled.

Mr Kyari’s appeal challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court in Abuja to try him and his co-defendants when they were yet to be subjected to the internal disciplinary mechanisms of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

However, the trial judge, Mr Nwite, held in his ruling that the powers of the Police Service Commission (PSC) to institute a disciplinary procedure against serving police officers do not supersede the powers of the Federal High Court to conduct a criminal trial.

The judge held that the Federal High Court has the exclusive right and jurisdiction to hear drug-related cases as enshrined in the Constitution and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act.

Kyari’s arrest and trial

Mr Kyari, a suspended deputy commissioner of police and member of the elite unit of the Nigeria Police Force, the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), has been facing prosecution for drug trafficking charges since 2022.

On 14 February 2022, Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested him for the alleged crimes and subsequently charged him in court alongside four members of his team.

The four IRT members with whom he faces trial are Sunday J. Ubia, Bawa James, Simon Agirigba and John Nuhu.

Two suspected drug traffickers, Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, who were arrested in connection to the case at Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, were also charged.

While Mr Kyari and the IRT members pleaded not guilty, Messrs Umeibe and Ezenwanne pleaded guilty and were convicted.

Struggle to get bail

Meanwhile, in May, the court granted Mr Kyari, who is standing trial from detention, temporary bail for two weeks to attend his mother’s final burial rites.

The court granted him bail of N50 million with two sureties in like sum.

After that, Mr Kyari filed a fresh bail application, citing what he described as “exceptional circumstances” of his two-year detention to face trial.

He said such detention represents an exceptional circumstance to warrant granting of bail even for a person charged with a capital offence.

He also argued that the facts and circumstances necessitating the court’s refusal to grant him bail in the early trial stage no longer existed, as 15 of the 16 prosecution witnesses had already testified. He cited section 124(1)(b) of the Evidence Act, 2011.

On 19 June, the judge dismissed the fresh bail application, saying that the circumstances warranting his earlier decision to deny the police officer bail remained unchanged.

Charges

NDLEA prosecutors accused Mr Kyari and the four suspended IRT members of dealing in 21.35kg of cocaine between 19 and 25 January 2022, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under section 11(c) of the NDLEA Act.

In one of the charges, the anti-narcotic agency alleged that Mr Kyari and the four IRT operatives tampered with 21.35kg of cocaine by removing 17.55kg of it and “substituting same with some other substance”.

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The offence is contrary to and punishable under section 14(b) of the NDLEA Act.

The prosecutors also accused Mr Kyari, in a count which features only him as the sole defendant, of attempting to obstruct the NDLEA and its authorised officers by offering $61,400 to a senior anti-narcotics operative as an inducement to prevent the testing of the 17.55kg of cocaine.

In three of the counts, Messrs Umeibe and Ezenwanne were accused of importing 21.35kg of cocaine into Nigeria via the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, Enugu State, on 19 January 2022.

(NAN)