The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday dismissed the non-declaration of assets case filed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) against suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari and his two younger brothers.
Delivering judgment, Justice James Omotosho held that the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt, stressing that the legal burden of proof rests squarely on the prosecuting authority.
“The burden of proving a case beyond reasonable doubt falls on the prosecution,” the judge ruled, adding that the anti-narcotics agency failed to meet that requirement.
Justice Omotosho went further to describe the case against Kyari and his brothers as “persecution,” before ordering that the defendants be discharged and acquitted of all the charges.
The suit was filed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency against Kyari, a former head of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), alongside his brothers, Mohammed Kyari and Ali Kyari.
The three defendants had been arraigned on a 23-count charge bordering on alleged non-disclosure of assets and related financial offences.
During the proceedings, counsel to the NDLEA, Sunday Joseph, as well as defence lawyers Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, representing Abba Kyari, and Monjok Agom, who appeared for his brothers, adopted their respective arguments before the court.
According to the charges, the NDLEA alleged that the defendants failed to fully disclose several assets believed to belong to Kyari.
The agency claimed it uncovered 14 properties, including shopping malls, residential estates, a polo playground, farmland and other landed assets located in the Federal Capital Territory and Maiduguri in Borno State.
Prosecutors also alleged that over ₦207 million and €17,598 were discovered in Kyari’s accounts across multiple banks, including 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 “disguising ownership of properties and conversion of monies.”
The agency maintained that the alleged offences were punishable under Section 35 (3) (a) of the NDLEA Act and Section 15 (3) (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.
However, Kyari and his brothers pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
With Thursday’s ruling, the court effectively terminated the case, clearing the suspended police officer and his siblings of the allegations.
