The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday dismissed the case brought by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) against suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari over alleged failure to declare assets.
Delivering judgment, Justice James Omotosho ruled that the prosecution did not establish its case beyond reasonable doubt. The court also discharged and acquitted Kyari’s younger brothers, Mohammed Kyari and Ali Kyari, who were co-defendants in the trial.
Justice Omotosho described the case as “persecution,” stressing that the responsibility to prove criminal allegations rests entirely on the prosecution.
The NDLEA had filed a 23-count charge accusing the former head of the Police Intelligence Response Team of failing to fully disclose his assets. The agency alleged that investigations uncovered 14 properties linked to Kyari, including shopping malls, residential estates, a polo playground, farmlands and plots of land.
According to the anti-narcotics agency, Kyari also failed to declare properties located in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and Maiduguri in Borno State. It further claimed that more than ₦207 million and €17,598 were traced to accounts associated with him in several banks.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/408/2022, also accused the defendants of disguising ownership of properties and converting funds, offences said to be punishable under provisions of the NDLEA Act and the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.
However, Kyari and his brothers pleaded not guilty to all the charges, leading to the trial that has now ended with their acquittal.
