Abuja: Inspector El‑John Nwonke told the Federal High Court on Wednesday that National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) officers aided two convicted traffickers in bypassing security at Enugu International Airport.
His testimony came during the ongoing trial of suspended DCP Abba Kyari over an alleged cocaine deal.
Nwonke, serving as the 2nd defence witness (DW-2), shared these details before Justice Emeka Nwite while being led in chief by Kyari’s lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN.
Kyari, former head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), alongside four other suspended IRT officers, including the two convicted drug traffickers, were being prosecuted by the NDLEA on an eight-count charge.
The agency had accused them of conspiracy, illegal dealing in cocaine, importation of cocaine and obstruction.
The four officers are ACP Sunday J. Ubua; ASP Bawa James, Insp. Simon Agirgba and Insp. John Nuhu, named as the 2nd to 5th defendants.
The two convicted drug traffickers were Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne, listed as the 6th and 7th defendants.
The duo was said to have been arrested by IRT officers at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu and handed over to the NDLEA.
Umeibe and Ezenwanne, who were non-police officers, later pleaded guilty to counts 5, 6 and 7 preferred against them by the anti-narcotic agency on June 14, 2022, and were convicted and sentenced to a two-year jail term.
However, the affected police officers, after their arraignment on March 7, 2022, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following the conclusion of the NDLEA’s case, Kyari and his co-defendants began their defence, presenting witnesses like Nwonke to support their position.
Nwonke said he was serving with the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) of the Nigerian Police Force, Abuja. He was present when the IRT officers arrested the two suspects and brought them in for investigation.
He said he was part of the team that conducted an interview session for the suspects on Jan. 20, 2022, during which their statements were taken, and the session was recorded.
The witness said the recorded video was transferred to a digital video disc (DVD).
He said during the session, the duo confessed that the police officers arrested them with the substance, said to be cocaine, at the airport after the officers of the NDLEA on duty had cleared them.
Nwonke said Umeibe and Ezenwanne’s data was collected, including their state of origin.
The witness said the two drug traffickers told him that they arrived in 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 surprised by how the men of the Nigeria Police Force arrested them.
“I asked them how you people do to escape and arrive in Nigeria since it was not the first or second time of trafficking the substance.”
The witness said they told him that whenever they bring in the substance through the airport, the NDLEA officers on duty would be aware of their arrival.
His words: “I asked them how 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 them to the NDLEA officers on duty at the airport.
“So when they arrive at the airport, the NDLEA officers have their pictures and the types of clothes they are putting on.”
Nwonke said the convicts told him that as soon as the NDLEA officers sight them, they (the convicts) will 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 was how they had been operating before their arrest by IRT officers, shortly after they were cleared by NDLEA officers on that fateful day.
He said the convicts told him that those who sent them the message did not tell them the quantity of the substance they trafficked.
He said they told him the substance is usually called “market.”
He said that when he asked them who they usually deliver the “market” to, the witness said the convicts told him 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 whether he had a downloaded version of the video recording, and the witness responded affirmatively.
The witness also admitted that he was served with a subpoena directing him to come and give testimony before the 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, but counsel for the NDLEA, Joseph Sunday, reacted.
Although Sunday did not oppose tendering the subpoena letter, which he regarded as a court document, he, however, objected to tendering the video and the certificate of compliance.
After hearing the arguments of the prosecution and the defence, Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until Feb. 27 for a ruling and the continuation of the trial.
