The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has given reasons explaining why the trial of suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari and his co-defendants was conducted behind closed doors. Speaking to journalists, Counsel for the NDLEA, Sunday Joseph, stated that security concerns were the reason for the decision, as the class of witnesses brought to court were undercover witnesses who needed protection.
When asked about the effect of this decision on transparency, Joseph stated that secret trials are a global phenomenon adopted for security reasons to protect the lives of witnesses. He also said that the legal teams of both parties agreed to the decision.
During the sitting, the testimony of an additional witness was taken in the presence of a limited number of people present in the courtroom. Evidence were sought to be tendered to the court as exhibits, but the defendants opposed it. Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, reserved his ruling on the admissibility of the evidence to June 9th.
Journalists were restrained from covering the trial. Other lawyers, whose matters were listed on the cause list, were also asked to leave the courtroom for Kyari’s case.
Kyari and other police officers, who are on suspension, are being charged by the anti-narcotic agency for allegedly tampering and dealing with part of the 21.8 kilogrammes of cocaine recovered from two convicts. The four accused police officers include ACP Sunday J. Ubia, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirigba and Inspector John Nuhu listed as 2nd to 5th defendants respectively.
The NDLEA accused the police officers, who had been on suspension pending the hearing and determination of the matter, of alleged compromise. They were arraigned alongside Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, who conspired with some other persons (now at large), to traffic hard drugs into the country.
Although the two suspects pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against them bordering on importation of 21.35kg of cocaine into the country, the police officers on trial pleaded not guilty to all the counts against them.
It can be recalled that on June 14th, 2022, Umeibe and Ezenwanne were convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment.
The trial continues as the court awaits its ruling on the admissibility of evidence.
