The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a 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 on Thursday, Justice James Omotosho discharged and acquitted Kyari and his younger brothers, Mohammed Kyari and Ali Kyari, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge held that the burden of proof in criminal cases rests with the prosecution, which he said failed to establish the allegations brought against the defendants.
Justice Omotosho described the case against Kyari and his brothers as “persecution,” before dismissing the charges.
The NDLEA had arraigned Kyari, a former head of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), alongside his two brothers on a 23-count charge bordering on alleged non-disclosure of assets and money laundering.
During the proceedings, counsel to the NDLEA, Sunday Joseph, as well as Kyari’s lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), and the counsel representing his brothers, Monjok Agom, adopted their final written addresses and presented arguments for and against the charges.
According to the anti-narcotics agency, investigations allegedly uncovered 14 properties linked to Kyari, including shopping malls, a residential estate, a polo playground, parcels of land and farmland.
The NDLEA claimed that the suspended police officer failed to declare ownership of some of the assets located in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and Maiduguri in Borno State.
The agency also alleged that over N207 million and €17,598 were found in accounts linked to Kyari in Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa and Sterling Bank.
The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/408/2022, also accused the defendants of disguising ownership of properties and converting funds in violation of provisions of the NDLEA Act and the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.
However, Kyari and his brothers pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Following the court’s ruling, the defendants were discharged and acquitted of the allegations.
