The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday acquitted suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari and his two younger brothers of charges related to alleged non-disclosure of assets.
In a judgment delivered by Justice James Omotosho, the court held that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) failed to prove the allegations against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge consequently discharged and acquitted Kyari alongside his brothers, Mohammed Kyari and Ali Kyari, describing the case instituted against them as a form of “persecution”.
The NDLEA had brought a 23-count charge against the trio, accusing them of failing to fully declare their assets and allegedly disguising ownership of certain properties and funds.
Kyari, a former head of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), was accused of failing to disclose several assets discovered in his name in the Federal Capital Territory and Maiduguri, Borno State.
According to the anti-narcotics agency, investigations uncovered about 14 properties allegedly linked to the police officer, including shopping malls, a residential estate, farmland, parcels of land and a polo playground.
The NDLEA also alleged that more than N207 million and €17,598 were traced to accounts associated with Kyari in Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa and Sterling Bank.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/408/2022, was brought under provisions of the NDLEA Act and the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.
During the proceedings, NDLEA counsel Sunday Joseph, Kyari’s lawyer Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), and counsel to his brothers Monjok Agom adopted their final written addresses and presented arguments before the court.
The defendants had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Justice Omotosho, however, ruled that the prosecution failed to establish the allegations against the accused persons, leading to their acquittal.
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