Court Rejects NDLEA Bid to Foreclose Evidence of Kyari’s Defence Witness
Court Rejects NDLEA Bid to Foreclose Evidence of Kyari’s Defence Witness
Court Rejects NDLEA Bid to Foreclose Evidence of Kyari’s Defence Witness
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday, October 5, 2026, declined to grant a request by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to foreclose the evidence of the second defence witness, Inspector John Nwoke, in the ongoing trial of suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari and four other former officers of the Police Intelligence Response Team over an alleged cocaine deal. Justice Emeka Nwite rejected the NDLEA’s application after the witness failed to appear in court due to illness, instead giving the defence until October 7 to present him for the continuation and conclusion of his testimony.
The prosecution’s request was made by NDLEA counsel Joseph Sunday, who told the court that the matter was scheduled for the continuation of hearing and that the agency was ready to proceed. Kyari’s counsel, Julius Mba, who represents the first and third defendants, confirmed that the case was slated for the cross-examination of the second defence witness, a subpoenaed witness. He informed the court that a letter dated October 2 had been filed on behalf of the witness, addressed to the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court and copied to the lead defence counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, explaining that Nwoke was ill. “On that note, we may not be able to put in a witness today because this is a criminal trial and a very serious one at that matter,” Mba told the court.
Sunday opposed the adjournment, arguing that it was “in bad taste” and calculated to frustrate the administration of criminal justice. He told the court he was seeing the witness’s letter for the first time in court and complained that the prosecution had been in court since morning without being informed that the witness would not attend. He recalled that at a previous sitting, another counsel for Kyari had told the court that Nwoke was outside the country on official duty, and he urged the court to foreclose the witness’s evidence and order the defence to proceed with its next witness.
Justice Nwite, however, declined the prosecution’s application. Instead, the court issued a subpoena duces tecum, which had been filed by the defence on September 30 and signed by the judge on October 2, requiring the Chairman of the NDLEA to produce before the court certified true copies of the list of agency personnel who were on duty at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu State on January 19, 2022. The judge also directed Nwoke to appear in court on October 7 to continue his testimony, warning that his evidence would be foreclosed if he failed to appear on that date. “Failure of the witness to appear on the said date means that his testimony will be foreclosed,” Justice Nwite ruled.
The development is the latest chapter in a trial that has drawn national attention since Kyari and his co-defendants were arraigned. The NDLEA had accused the officers of tampering with cocaine recovered from two arrested drug traffickers at the Enugu airport on January 19, 2022. The four officers charged alongside Kyari are ACP Sunday J. Ubua, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirgba and Inspector John Nuhu, listed as the second to fifth defendants. Two convicted drug traffickers, Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, listed as the sixth and seventh defendants, pleaded guilty to the counts against them, while Kyari and the four police officers pleaded not guilty.
Inspector Nwoke, a police video and camera expert attached to the Force Headquarters, has already tendered video evidence that the defence claims exonerates Kyari and his co-defendants. The video, which was played in open court in March 2026, allegedly shows how NDLEA operatives aided the convicted drug traffickers at the airport. Nwoke testified that he conducted the interrogation and recorded the video, and that the two drug traffickers told him they had been helped by NDLEA officials. The prosecution’s effort to foreclose his evidence was therefore a significant moment in the trial, as Nwoke’s testimony is central to the defence’s case that the officers did not tamper with the seized cocaine but were instead implicated by the agency’s own operatives.
The subpoena duces tecum issued by the court on Monday adds another dimension to the trial. By requiring the NDLEA Chairman to produce the airport duty roster for January 19, 2022, the defence is seeking documentary evidence to establish which NDLEA personnel were present at the airport on the day the cocaine was seized and to challenge the prosecution’s narrative. The request for the duty roster had been filed on September 30 and signed by the judge on October 2, but the defence told the court it only received the signed copy on Monday morning.
The NDLEA’s opposition to the adjournment reflected the prosecution’s frustration with the repeated delays in the trial. Sunday argued that the defence had failed to comply with an earlier order directing Nwoke to appear in court on Monday, and that the application for an adjournment was a tactic to delay proceedings. The defence, however, maintained that the witness was genuinely ill and that the letter explaining his condition had been properly filed with the court. Justice Nwite’s decision to grant the adjournment but attach a firm deadline reflects a balancing of the defendant’s right to present his defence against the prosecution’s interest in a speedy trial.
The case has been marked by legal twists and turns. In March 2026, a separate Federal High Court in Abuja acquitted Kyari and his two brothers, Mohammed and Ali Kyari, of a 23-count charge of alleged non-disclosure of assets filed by the NDLEA, with Justice James Omotosho holding that the agency had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The cocaine trial, however, has continued, and the defence has been presenting witnesses since October 2025, when the court dismissed the defendants’ no-case submission. Kyari himself testified as the first defence witness, denying ownership of properties linked to him by the NDLEA and insisting that they belonged to his late father. Inspector Nwoke, the second defence witness, has been the defence’s most consequential witness, his video evidence forming the backbone of the argument that the NDLEA’s own operatives were complicit in the trafficking operation.
The trial will resume on October 7, when Nwoke is expected to return to court for the continuation of his cross-examination. If he fails to appear on that date, his testimony will be foreclosed, and the defence will lose one of its most important witnesses. The NDLEA, for its part, will have the opportunity to cross-examine Nwoke on the video evidence he tendered and to challenge his account of the interrogation. The case is being closely watched as a test of the Nigerian criminal justice system’s ability to handle a high-profile prosecution involving senior police officers and allegations of drug trafficking and evidence tampering. For Kyari, who has consistently denied the charges, the outcome of the trial will determine whether he is convicted or acquitted. For the NDLEA, the case represents an opportunity to demonstrate that its enforcement actions are not selective and that no officer, regardless of rank, is above the law. The coming days will reveal whether the defence can present its evidence in time or whether the foreclosure of Nwoke’s testimony shifts the trajectory of the trial.
