The judge warned Mr Kyari and his co-defendants that failure to comply could lead to a premature closure of their defence in the cocaine trial.
Judge Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday gave suspended Abba Kyari and four other police officers facing cocaine charges the final opportunity to file their lists of defence witnesses.
He issued the warning after expressing displeasure over the defendants’ failure to obey his 5 October order directing them to submit the names of witnesses they intended to call for their defence.
Judge Nwite said the court’s records showed that none of the defendants had complied with the directive.
“The orders of court must be obeyed,” Judge Nwite said, warning that he would not take violations of the court’s orders lightly.
Mr Kyari, a deputy commissioner of police under suspension by police authorities, is standing trial alongside four members of his now-defunct Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT): Sunday J. Ubua, an assistant commissioner of police; Bawa James, an assistant superintendent of police; Simon Agirgba and John Nuhu, both inspectors.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) accused the five officers of dealing in 21.35kg of cocaine seized from two traffickers at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on 19 January 2022.
The prosecution also charged them with tampering with the narcotic sustance by removing 17.55kg from it and replacing the portion with another substance.
The agency also accused Mr Kyari, in a separate count, of offering $61,400 to an NDLEA operative to prevent the cocaine from being tested. All five denied wrongdoing.
Friday’s ruling followed a disagreement over whether the defence could question an officer who appeared in court with a list of NDLEA personnel who were on duty at the Enugu airport when the two cocaine smugglers arrived from Ethiopia.
The defence had sought the list through a subpoena to support its case to show the circumstances under which the two cocaine traffickers passed through airport security before their arrest by Mr Kyari-led IRT on the airport ground.
The subpoena stirred controversy on Wednesday after the prosecution challenged it on the grounds that it was addressed to the NDLEA’s director-general, a position the prosecutor said did not exist at the agency.
The prosecution, however, indicated that an officer would produce the requested document, and the case was adjourned until the following day.
On Thursday, Ojebir Victor, whom the prosecution identified as an assistant commander and principal staff officer in charge of personnel statistics, appeared with the list.
After Mr Victor presented the document and took the witness’ oath, the prosecution and defence disagreed over whether an officer subpoenaed to produce the NDLEA airport duty roster could be questioned.
NDLEA’s prosecution lawyer Joseph Sunday argued that the subpoena required the officer only to produce the document, not to give oral evidence, and that the defence should have obtained a separate subpoena requiring him to testify.
The defence lawyer maintained that the officer could be questioned to clarify the document’s contents.
Judge Nwite reserved his ruling until Friday, 9 October, when he rejected the defence’s position and discharged the officer without allowing cross-examination.
The defence then requested an adjournment to prepare for its case.
Mr Sunday opposed the request, arguing that the officer’s discharge did not prevent the defendants from calling another witness. He reminded the court of its earlier order directing the defence to file its witness lists.
He also urged the judge to restrict the defendants from calling additional witnesses and sought costs over the series of adjournments.
Ruling, Judge Nwite rejected the defence’s argument that the circumstances surrounding an officer who produced a subpoenaed document could excuse its failure to comply with the order.
The judge said the officer’s discharge could not have prevented the defendants from identifying their intended witnesses and filing their lists of defence witnesses.
He decided to all the defendants another opportunity to file their lists of defence witnesses, “in the interest of justice.”
He warned that he could “foreclose” their defence should they fail to comply with his directive by the next sitting on 12 October.
The case began in March 2022, when the NDLEA arraigned Mr Kyari alongside four other police officers and two cocaine smugglers on cocaine-related charges.
NDLEA accused them of offences linked to 21.35kg of cocaine seized from Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, the two suspected traffickers who smuggled the substance into the country through the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, in January 2022.
The police officers, including Mr Kyari, allegedly tampered with the cocaine after seizing it from the two smugglers who arrived Nigeria from Ethiopia by taking 17.55kg from it and replacing that portion with a look-alike substance.
One of the charges directed solely at Mr Kyari accused him of offering $61,400 to a senior anti-narcotics operative to prevent the testing the cocaine to detect the adulteration.
While Mr Kyari and the four officers pleaded not guilty, Mr Umeibe and Mr Ezenwanne admitted the charges. They were convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment each, terms they have since completed.
