Court Acquits Suspended DCP Abba Kyari, Dismisses NDLEA Asset Declaration Case

|By Adejumo Adekunle

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday dismissed the case filed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) against suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari over alleged non-disclosure of assets.

Delivering judgment, James Omotosho, ruled that the anti-narcotics agency failed to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt, the legal burden required in criminal cases.

The judge described the prosecution as “persecution” and subsequently discharged and acquitted Kyari and his younger brothers, Mohammed Kyari and Ali Kyari, who were also defendants in the suit.

The NDLEA had filed a 23-count charge accusing Kyari and his brothers of failing to fully disclose their assets.

According to the agency, investigations uncovered 14 properties allegedly linked to the suspended police officer. The assets reportedly included shopping malls, a residential estate, a polo playground, parcels of land, and farmland located in Abuja and Maiduguri.

The anti-drug agency also alleged that more than ₦207 million and €17,598 were discovered in Kyari’s bank accounts with Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa, and Sterling Bank.

In the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/408/2022, the NDLEA accused the defendants of concealing property ownership and converting funds, offences it said are punishable under Section 35(3)(a) of the NDLEA Act and Section 15(3)(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.

However, Kyari and his brothers pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

After reviewing the arguments presented by NDLEA counsel Sunday Joseph, Kyari’s lawyer Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), and counsel to the other defendants Monjok Agom, the court held that the prosecution did not establish its case, leading to the dismissal of the suit.