A federal high court in Abuja has struck out the evidence of John Nwonke, the second defence witness in the trial of Abba Kyari, the suspended former head of the police intelligence response team (IRT), and four other officers over alleged drug trafficking.
Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, dismissed Nwonke’s
evidence on Wednesday after the witness failed to appear in court despite an
earlier warning that his testimony would be struck out if he was absent.
The ruling followed an oral application by Joseph Sunday,
counsel for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), who said the
witness had repeatedly failed to appear for the continuation of his testimony.
Nwite held that Nwonke had been given sufficient time and
opportunity to present his evidence and face cross-examination by the
prosecution but failed to use the opportunity.
The judge consequently struck out the witness’s evidence
from the record.
Julius Mba, counsel for Kyari and Simon Agirgba, told the
court that Nwonke was a subpoenaed witness and might not have been aware of the
hearing date.
The witness had previously sent a letter to the court citing
ill-health as the reason for his absence.
However, Sunday had argued that the letter did not state the
nature of Nwonke’s illness or identify the hospital where he was receiving
treatment.
On Monday, the judge had warned that the witness’s evidence
would be foreclosed if he failed to appear in court on Wednesday.
Nwonke was absent when the case was called, prompting Sunday
to remind the court of the earlier directive.
Kyari and the other police officers are being prosecuted by
the NDLEA together with Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne over an alleged
cocaine deal.
In 2022, Umeibe and Ezenwanne pleaded guilty to the charges
and were convicted, while Kyari, Sunday Ubua, Bawa James, Agirgba and John Nuhu
pleaded not guilty.
The NDLEA alleges that Kyari and the other officers tampered
with cocaine recovered from Umeibe and Ezenwanne at the airport.
Meanwhile, the defence asked the court to compel the NDLEA
to produce a list of its officers who were on duty at the Akanu Ibiam
International Airport, Enugu, on January 19, 2022, when the alleged offence
occurred.
Mba said the list would help the defence determine its next
course of action.
Sunday challenged the subpoena, arguing that it was
addressed to the “director-general” of the NDLEA, an office he said does not
exist within the agency.
“What the agency has is the office of chairman/chief
executive officer and the agency’s secretary and not a director-general,” he
said.
The NDLEA lawyer, however, said an agency officer would
produce the list of personnel who were on duty at the airport on Thursday.
The court adjourned the case until Thursday for continuation
of trial.
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