The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday dismissed the case instituted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency against suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, and his two younger brothers, Mohammed and Ali, over alleged failure to declare assets.
Delivering judgment, Justice James Omotosho ruled that the anti-narcotics agency failed to establish the allegations beyond reasonable doubt as required by law. The judge held that the responsibility of proving criminal charges rests with the prosecution, adding that the evidence presented by the NDLEA did not meet the legal threshold.
Omotosho also described the action against Kyari and his brothers as an act of “persecution,” before proceeding to discharge and acquit them of all the charges.
The NDLEA had arraigned Kyari, a former head of the Police Intelligence Response Team, alongside his brothers on a 23-count charge bordering on alleged non-disclosure of assets.
According to the agency, investigations uncovered about 14 properties allegedly linked to Kyari, including shopping complexes, a housing estate, a polo playground, parcels of land and farmland located in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and Maiduguri, Borno State, which were said not to have been declared.
The agency also alleged that more than N207m and €17,598 were traced to accounts linked to Kyari in Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa and Sterling Bank.
In the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/408/2022, the NDLEA further accused the defendants of concealing ownership of the properties and converting funds.
The offences were said to be punishable under Section 35(3)(a) of the NDLEA Act and Section 15(3)(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.
However, the defendants pleaded not guilty to all the counts preferred against them.
