On Tuesday, a Federal High Court in Abuja granted the NDLEA permission to further detain suspended DCP Abba Kyari for 14 days, pending the conclusion of the investigation.
Judge Zainab Abubakar granted the order after NDLEA Director of Legal and Prosecution Services Joseph. on Sunday, he filed an ex parte motion to that effect.
The NDLEA, in the request marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/111/2022, also requested an extension of time to detain the six other named suspects in the alleged crime.
The other six are ACP Sunday J. Ubia, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirigba, Inspector John Nuhu, Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne.
While Kyari is the first respondent, the other six are listed as 2nd through 7th respondents, respectively, on the application.
The ex-parte motion, dated February 15 and filed February 16, is mild for an order granting the NDLEA permission to detain suspects in its custody pending the conclusion of the investigation.
It also sought “an order to detain the above suspects in NDLEA custody in Gudu, Abuja for 14 days pending the conclusion of the investigation.
“And any other order or more that this honorable court sees fit to make in the circumstances.”
In the affidavit in support of the motion filed with an NDLEA Litigation Assistant Officer, FCT Command, the agency stated that “the sixth and seventh defendants (Umeibe and Ezenwanne) were arrested, including the third through fifth defendants (James, Agirigba and Nuhu) at Enugu Airport, based on suspicion of hard drug importation/trafficking and were subsequently transferred to the applicant for further investigation.
“That the sixth and seventh respondents confessed to the police at the time of their arrest that they took the recovered drugs through the Addis Ababa International Airport, Ehiopia on January 19, to the Akanu Ibiam International Airport. Enugu, Nigeria.
“That the sixth and seventh respondents conspired with certain other individuals (now at large) to import the recovered cocaine into Nigeria from Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia into Nigeria.
“That it is based on the foregoing that defendants 6 and 7 were arrested, taken to Abuja and handed over to the NDLEA Federal Capital Territory, Abuja for further investigation.”
Hussaini said an officer’s preliminary test of recovered substances in the presence of the suspects, police officers and other witnesses came back positive for cocaine.
He said the suspects voluntarily admitted importing, trafficking and possessing the cocaine with which they were arrested.
“That the 1st (Kyari) through 5th respondents are police officers who carried out the arrest of the 6th and 7th respondents and transferred them to the NDI EA for further investigation.
He stated that his investigation revealed that Kyari (first glowing), Ubia, James, Agirigba and Nuhu, who were police officers, compromised the entire operation and “were involved in importing, trafficking and trading and also handling the recovered cocaine.
“That Defendants 1 through 5 were turned over upon request (NDLEA) to the Inspector General of Police for investigation of their involvement in the tampering and handling of some of the cocaine recovered from Defendant’s 6 through 7 recovery of 21.8 kilograms of cocaine.
“That defendants 1 to 5 have voluntarily offered their statements in the preliminary investigation, which has shown complicity in the case. Copies of the statements are marked here as NDLEA Exhibit 4 4,5,6,7,8 and 9 respectively”.
Hussaini said the investigation would take some time as there are complicated dimensions to the case that require follow-up and clarification.
“That the investigation is likely to extend to foreign countries, where some people linked to this transnational drug trafficking reside.
“That in accordance with the foregoing, the applicant is requesting the honorable court for a period of 14 days in the first instance to detain the defendants so that he can carry out his investigation successfully,” he said.
The officer stated that court authorization was required to detain the defendant beyond the limit required by law, pending the conclusion of the investigation.
“That an order from this court is required to detain the defendant for 14 days in the first instance until the investigation of this case is concluded.
“That this investigation involves the sister security agencies and you have to collaborate and seek the assistance of the other sister security agencies to unravel the circumstances of this case,” he added.
Hussaini, who said it was in the interests of justice to grant the request, said the defendant would not be harmed by the request.
The Nigerian News Agency reports that DCP Kyari, through his lawyer, Cynthia Ikena, approached Judge Inyang Ekwo on Monday, begging the court to release him on bail on health grounds.
Kyari, who was previously the Chief Inspector General of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), also filed a fundamental rights enforcement lawsuit for alleged unlawful arrests and detentions.
He also demanded compensation of 500 million naira from the NDLEA for violating his fundamental rights.
NAN
