A convicted drug trafficker, Mr Emeka Ezenwanne, on Thursday, narrated before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, how he bribed security agents with N10,000 to be allowed to bring into the country, several packs of cocaine that was sent to him from Brazil.
Ezenwanne appeared as the fifth prosecution witness, PW-5, in the ongoing trial of the detained Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP, Abba Kyari, who is facing drug trafficking charge.
Kyari, who hitherto headed the Police Intelligence Response Team, IRT, is facing trial alongside four members of his team; ACP Sunday J. Ubia, ASP Bawa James, Inspectors Simon Agirigba and John Nuhu.
The defendants are answering to an eight-count charge the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, preferred against them for allegedly tampering with cocaine that was seized from two convicted drug peddlers — Ezenwanne and Chibunna Patrick Umeibe.
Both Umeibe and Ezenwanne, who were initially joined as defendants in the case, were convicted and handed two years jail term after they pleaded guilty to the charge.
At the resumed proceedings in the matter on Thursday, Ezenwanne appeared in court to testify against the embattled police officers.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Mr Sunday Joseph, the witness, who is currently remanded at the Suleja Prison, told the court that he brought in the cocaine which was sent to him from Brazil, using Ethiopian airline.
He said: “My lord, what happened was that on January 15, 2022, I travelled to Addis Ababa to bring cocaine with the help of Iwolabi from Brazil. I used Ethiopian Airlines with my international passport.
“Iwolabi sent his boys from Brazil to hand the cocaine to me.
“When I arrived in Ethiopia, my ticket was supposed to lead me to Cameroon, but I deliberately stopped at Addis Ababa Airport so that I would miss the flight heading to Cameroon.
“The reason was so that I could meet the people that were to hand me the stuff.
“On January 16, around 8:30p.m. Ethiopian time, the flight coming from Brazil arrived. Few minutes after, they called me on phone. The first person that called me is known as Alhaji.
“He called and asked where I was. I told him to meet me at the lounge. He came and handed over to me six sachets of cocaine on white cotton packs and left.
“The second person called me, his name is Ota. He asked me the same question and I also told him to meet me at the lounge.
“He came and handed to me four sachets of cocaine in white cotton packs. It became a total of 10 sachets.
“He then snapped me with his phone and left.
“My second, Chibunna, was there before me. We met and by then he had already received his own. We stayed together because our flight was scheduled to leave on January 19.
“On that January 19, in the morning, around 8am, we boarded a flight going to Enugu International Airport.
“When we arrived at Enugu, I was the first person to come out from the airport. I stood at the car park waiting for my second to come out.
Arrested
“When he came out and was heading towards me, one woman and two men intercepted him.
“When I looked at them, I noticed that they were having an argument. As I came close to know what was happening, there was one Sienna car that was packed there.
“As I arrived, the four doors of the car opened and men jumped out from the car. What I heard was, ‘I did not see this one o’.
“As they held me, I shouted Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Is this how I am going to end? As they grabbed me and my second, they brought out their jackets with IRT written on them.
“They shared it among themselves and wore it. That was when I knew that they were police.
“Because of the shout and noise we made at the airport, people gathered. They pushed us inside that car and drove off. They took us to one empty police station near the airport.
“They brought out our bags and opened them. The team leader exclaimed; confirm! confirm! and snapped the cocaine.
“At that point, my second, begged them to leave us and carry the cocaine. They slapped him and asked if he was not aware that he would beg when he was shouting at the airport.”
The witness said they were subsequently brought to the IRT office in Abuja, where they were locked up after their statements were taken.
“While I was writing my statement, the team leader, Bawa, came in and asked me how many sachets of cocaine I have in my bag. I told him that I didn’t know.
“He also asked me if I was aware of the quantity my second had in his bag and I told him I didn’t know that he should go and ask him. So he left.
“On January 21, they took us to one Grade 1 Magistrate court here in Abuja. When we got there, after some time, about an hour, the person that took us there, the 4th defendant, told us that his boss said they should bring us back.
“When we asked him why, he said he did not know but that they are trying to help us.
“When they took us back to the station, the team leader came to us and said they were taking us to the NDLEA.
“I knelt down immediately and begged him not to take us there. He said it was a directive from his boss but that they are still having a discussion on the matter. So, they took us back to the cell.
“On January 25, around 4pm, they brought us out again. I asked my IPO, AY, where they were taking us to and he said it was to the NDLEA.
‘Our drugs tampered with’
“When we came out to enter the car, when we saw our bags, we noticed that the size was not the same again.
“As we carried the bags inside the car, we also noticed that the weight had reduced.
“After then, they took us to the NDLEA and the person in charge of the team, they called him ‘too much money (currently at large).
“When we got there, they took us inside one office and brought out our bags. The Commander in that office came and told the exhibit officer to check everything.
“But when they opened our bags, I noticed that there was a strange thing. When they bought out those sachets of cocaine inside my bag, it was only eight sachets instead of 10.
“The exhibit officer brought out all the cocaine inside my bag. The ones in sachets, both mine and the one belonging to my second, were 12 sachets. The ones in pellets were 12 cotton packs of cocaine.
“Those in pellets were 390. The exhibit officer weighed them and they weighed 21.35kg. For the ones in sachets, the exhibit officer labelled them 1 to 12.
“The one in pellets was labelled too. Then the exhibit officer carried out a field test on the cocaine.
“Some tested positive for cocaine while some proved negative. The ones that proved positive was 3.8kg, while the negative was 17.55kg”, the witness added.
While being cross examined by Kyari’s lawyer, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, the witness told the court that he brought cocaine into the country twice.
“On the two occasions I brought drugs into Nigeria, I was not arrested nor stopped by NDLEA officials at the airport
At the Enugu airport, I saw NCDC officials and immigration agents. I also met two men that took my passport and directed me to a table for searching.
“At the Enugu International Airport, I was asked to give money to the people that will search my bag. So I gave them N10,000 and they cleared me,” the witness added.
Asked if he saw the 1st defendant, Kyari, or had any interaction with him, the witness said: “My lord, all through the process of my arrest, I did not have any interaction with the 1st defendant”.
Asked if he was happy that Kyari’s men arrested him after he offered to give them all the cocaine he was caught with, the witness said: “I am not happy as a human being, but not angry with anyone.”
The NDLEA had alleged that Kyari and his men, unlawfully tampered with 21.25kilograms worth of cocaine that they seized from the two convicted drug traffickers- Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwane- even as it also accused them of dealing in cocaine worth 17.55kg.
It alleged that the police officers committed the offence between January 19 and 25, 2022, at the office of Inspector-General of Police (IGP) IRT, Abuja, in connivance with one ASP John Umoru (now at large), contrary to section 14(b) of the NDLEA Act, CAP N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.