Fresh allegations of internal compromise within the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) emerged on Wednesday as a defence witness told the Federal High Court in Abuja that some NDLEA officers routinely aided drug couriers to beat airport security checks in the ongoing cocaine trial of suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari.
The witness, Inspector El-John Nwonke of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Abuja, said two convicted drug traffickers — Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne confessed during interrogation that NDLEA officers at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, habitually cleared them to pass with narcotics concealed in their luggage.
Testifying before Justice Emeka Nwite, Nwonke said the traffickers disclosed that their handlers abroad would take their photographs and forward them to compromised NDLEA officers at the airport ahead of their arrival.
“They told me that when they arrived, the NDLEA officers already had their pictures and knew the clothes they were wearing.
“Once sighted, they would smile as a code, and the officers would unzip their bags briefly and zip them back, indicating clearance,” the witness told the court.
Kyari, a former head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), is standing trial alongside four other suspended police officers — ACP Sunday Ubua,
ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirgba and Inspector John Nuhu — on an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy, cocaine trafficking, importation and obstruction of justice.
The two traffickers, Umeibe and Ezenwanne, who were listed as the sixth and seventh defendants, were arrested by IRT operatives at the Enugu airport and later handed over to the NDLEA.
They pleaded guilty to some of the charges on June 14, 2022, and were sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.
However, Kyari and the four police officers pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned on March 7, 2022, and are currently defending the charges after the NDLEA closed its case.
Nwonke said he was part of the FCID team that interviewed the traffickers on January 20, 2022, adding that the session was video-recorded and later transferred to a digital video disc (DVD).
He said the convicts admitted that they arrived Nigeria from Ethiopia with cocaine and that it was neither their first nor second attempt at smuggling drugs into the country.
“They said the substance was usually called ‘market’ and that they had been in the business for a long time.
“They were surprised that they were eventually arrested by the police, shortly after being cleared by NDLEA officers on that day,” he said.
According to the witness, the traffickers told investigators that they were often unaware of the quantity of drugs they carried and that delivery arrangements were usually communicated once they successfully exited the airport, often travelling by night bus to meet their contacts.
During the proceedings, Kyari’s counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), sought to tender the subpoena served on the witness, alongside the DVD recording of the interrogation and a certificate of compliance.
While NDLEA counsel, Joseph Sunday, did not oppose the admission of the subpoena, he objected to the tendering of the video recording and the accompanying certificate.
Justice Nwite, after listening to arguments from both sides, adjourned the matter till February 27 for ruling on the admissibility of the documents and continuation of the trial.
The case has continued to draw national attention, given Kyari’s once-celebrated role in high-profile crime fighting and the broader implications of the allegations for Nigeria’s anti-drug enforcement framework.
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