By Taiye Agbaje
Insp. El-John Nwonke has told the Federal High Court, Abuja that National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) officers helped two convicts in Abba Kyari’s trial bypass security checks at Enugu International Airport.
Nwonke, the 2nd defence witness (DW-2), made the assertion before Justice Emeka Nwite on Wednesday while being led in evidence-in-chief by Kyari’s lawyer, Mr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kyari, a suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police and former head of Intelligence Response Team (IRT), is being prosecuted by the NDLEA for drug trafficking.
He was charged alongside four other suspended IRT officers including the two convicted drug traffickers on an eight-count charge.
The agency accused them of conspiracy, illegal cocaine dealing, cocaine importation, and obstruction.
The four officers are ACP Sunday Ubua, ASP Bawa James, Insp. Simon Agirgba and Insp. John Nuhu, named as 2nd to 5th defendants.
The two convicted drug traffickers are Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, listed as 6th and 7th defendants.
The convicts were said to have been arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu by the IRT officers and handed over to the NDLEA.
Umeibe and Ezenwanne, who are not police officers, later pleaded guilty to counts 5, 6 and 7 preferred against them by the anti-narcotic agency on June 14, 2022.
They were convicted and sentenced to a two-year jail term.
The police officers, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were arraigned on March 7, 2022.
After the NDLEA concluded its case, Kyari and his co-defendants opened their defence.
Nwonke, told the court that he was serving with the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) of the Nigerian Police, when the two suspects were arrested and brought for investigation.
He said he was part of the team that interviewed the suspects on Jan. 20, 2022 where their statements were taken and the interview session recorded.
The witness said the recorded video was transferred into a Digital Video Disc (DVD).
He said the duo confessed that the police officers arrested them with the substance said to be cocaine at the airport after officers of the NDLEA on duty had cleared them.
Nwonke said the two drug traffickers told him that they arrived Nigeria from Ethiopia with the substance suspected to be cocaine.
“They told me the substance was given to them and that it was not their first or second time of carrying it,” he said.
The DW-2 said the convicts told him that they had been in the business for a long time but that they were surprise how the police arrested them.
The witness said they told him that any time they brought in the substance through the airport, the NDLEA officers on duty would have been aware of their coming.
“I asked them how do they (the officers) know they are the people coming with this substance.
“They said when they are coming with this ‘market’ from Ethiopia to Nigeria, the people who give them the job will take their pictures and send it to the NDLEA officers on duty at the airport.
“So, when they arrive at the airport, the NDLEA officers have their pictures and the type of clothes they are putting on,’’ the witness told the court.
The witness further said that the convicts told him that as soon as the NDLEA officers sight them, they (the convicts) would put up a smiling face as a code to the officers on duty.
“Then the NDLEA officers will unzip the bag as if they are conducting a check on it and zip it back, meaning the bag has been checked and cleared,” he said.
The witness said Umeibe and Ezenwanne told him that, that was how they had been operating before their arrest shortly after they were cleared by the NDLEA officers on that fateful day.
According to him, the convicts said those who sent them the message did not tell them the quantity of the substance they trafficked and that the substance is usually called “market.”
“When I asked them who they usually deliver the “market” to, they told me the recipients know how to receive the message but they often go to them on a night bus, provided they arrive successfully.
“What I am saying is also detailed in the video where they made confessional statements.
“There are so many questions in that video, though I can’t remember all,” he told the court.
Ikpeazu then asked the witness if he had a downloaded version of the video recording and he responded in the affirmative.
The witness also admitted that he was served with a subpoena directing him to come and testify in court.
After the witness told the lawyer that a copy of the subpoena, the DVD and a certificate of compliance were with him in court, Ikpeazu sought to tender them in evidence.
Although counsel for the NDLEA, Joseph Sunday did not oppose the tendering of the subpoena which he regarded as court document, he objected to tendering the video and the certificate of compliance.
After taking the arguments of the prosecution and the defence, Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until Feb. 27 for ruling and continuation of trial. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Sadiya Hamza
