NDLEA loses asset declaration case against Abba Kyari as court cites persecution

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed alleged non-declaration of assets charges filed against Abba Kyari, the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Justice James Omotosho dismissed the matter, citing_** “persecution”** _by the anti-narcotics agency.

The charges were filed before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court in 2022 after the prosecution claimed to have uncovered 14 assets allegedly belonging to Mr. Kyari. It also alleged that over N207 million and €17,598 were discovered in Mr. Kyari’s bank accounts.

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Various assets in Abuja and Borno State allegedly linked to him at the time included shopping malls, a residential estate, a polo playground, lands, and farmland.

**What the Court Is Saying **

• Delivering his verdict, Justice James Omotosho held that the NDLEA failed to prove its case against Kyari and his younger brothers, Mohammed Kyari and Ali Kyari, beyond a reasonable doubt.
• Justice Omotosho held that the case against Kyari and his brothers by the NDLEA amounted to “persecution” and malice, as no cogent evidence was put forward.
• Consequently, the judge discharged and acquitted the defendants of the charges.

**What You Should Know **

In 2022, Joseph Sunday, NDLEA’s Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, sued Kyari on August 30, 2022.

Some of the charges stated that Mr. Kyari did not make a full disclosure of his properties during investigations and that he disguised his ownership of some of the properties.

• The allegations were denied by the defendants, paving the way for trial.
• The court’s outcome before Justice Omotosho is separate from another NDLEA case in which Kyari and six others were arraigned in March 2022 for allegedly tampering with and conspiring to deal in 21.35 kilograms of cocaine seized from suspected traffickers.
• These other allegations were also denied by Kyari, and the matter is still pending.
• Recall that the NDLEA had arrested Mr. Kyari on February 14, 2022, over allegations of his involvement in illicit drug trafficking linked to an international drug cartel.
• The six other defendants arrested with Mr. Kyari include ACP Sunday J. Ubia, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirigba, Inspector John Nuhu, Chibunna Patrick Umeibe, and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne.

In June 2022, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, sentenced two of Abba Kyari’s civilian co-defendants to two years’ imprisonment on each of counts 5, 6, and 7.

The court convicted them after they pleaded guilty and requested a plea bargain agreement.

A plea bargain agreement was negotiated between the prosecutor and the co-defendants, whereby the defendants pleaded guilty.