Defence seeks records of personnel on duty when cocaine was recovered in 2022
Toyyibat Qasim
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), to produce the list of NDLEA personnel who were on duty at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu State, on January 19, 2022.
The order came on Monday during the trial of suspended police officer and former Intelligence Response Team commander, Abba Kyari, and other members of his team over alleged tampering with cocaine recovered from two convicted drug traffickers.
Justice Emeka Nwite made the order after counsel to Kyari and Inspector Simon Agirgba, Julius Mba, informed the court that the defence had secured a subpoena duces tecum requiring the NDLEA chairman to produce the relevant records.
The subpoena, according to Mba, seeks certified true copies of the list of NDLEA personnel who were on duty at the Enugu airport on the day the cocaine was allegedly recovered.
The records, he said, were required for the proper consideration of the case and the defence of the affected defendants.
The development occurred as the court also considered an application arising from the absence of the defence’s second witness, John Nwonke, who was expected to continue his testimony.
Nwonke, who was subpoenaed to testify, was absent from court after his lawyers presented a letter dated October 2 informing the court that he was ill.
Mba told Justice Nwite that the defence could not proceed with another witness because the matter was a criminal trial and the absent witness was expected to continue and conclude his evidence.
He also said the defence had obtained the court’s approval for the subpoena requiring the NDLEA chairman to produce the Enugu airport duty records.
However, the NDLEA counsel, Joseph Sunday, strongly opposed the request for an adjournment and urged the court to foreclose Nwonke’s evidence.
Sunday argued that the defence had failed to comply with an earlier order directing Nwonke to appear in court on Monday, warning that failure to do so could lead to the closure of the defence’s case in respect of the witness.
The prosecution lawyer also questioned the medical letter presented to the court, arguing that it did not disclose the nature of Nwonke’s illness or the hospital where he was receiving treatment.
He further alleged that the development was an attempt to frustrate the speedy determination of the criminal proceedings.
“We don’t conduct trial by ambush. We are not aware of any subpoena,” Sunday told the court, according to proceedings.
He urged the judge to order the defence to proceed with another witness and treat Nwonke’s evidence as having been given without being subjected to cross-examination.
Mba, however, rejected the prosecution’s allegations, taking exception to the suggestion that he had circumvented the court’s order.
He maintained that the defence’s application was aimed at ensuring a fair and comprehensive determination of the case.
According to him, information available to the defence at the previous adjourned date was that Nwonke was away on official assignment. He said that upon his return, the witness informed the court that he had become indisposed.
