Justice Omotosho added that Kyari’s explanation that “the Maiduguri properties belonged to his late father and were inherited by him and his siblings was not disproved by the prosecution,” and also said that “the charge of conspiracy against his brothers was not established.”
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday discharged and acquitted suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, of a 23-count charge of alleged non-declaration of assets filed against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Delivering judgment, Justice James Omotosho held that the anti-narcotics agency “failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove the allegations against Kyari and his two brothers, who were also accused of swearing false affidavits to conceal the origin of certain properties.”
The judge emphasized that the prosecution “did not tender credible documents linking Kyari to landed properties in Fountain Estate, Kasana, said to belong to Ramatu Kyari, or to properties located on Linda Choko Road in Asokoro and in Maiduguri, Borno State.”
He further noted that “ownership of landed property could be established through traditional history, title documents, acts of possession, or possession by connection, none of which was presented by the prosecution.”
Justice Omotosho added that Kyari’s explanation that “the Maiduguri properties belonged to his late father and were inherited by him and his siblings was not disproved by the prosecution,” and also said that “the charge of conspiracy against his brothers was not established.”
The court consequently discharged and acquitted the defendants on all counts.
Previously, SaharaReporters reported that the Nigerian government had “uncovered 14 assets, including shopping malls, residential estate, polo playground, lands and farmland belonging to the disgraced former Deputy Commissioner of Police and Commander of Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Abba Kyari.”
Kyari was alleged to have failed to disclose his ownership of properties in different locations in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and Maiduguri, Borno State, SaharaReporters noted.
It was also reported that “over N207 million and €17,598 were also discovered in his various accounts in GTBank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Sterling Bank.”
In charges filed on behalf of the Nigerian government by the Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, J. Sunday, dated August 30, 2022, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) stated that the suspended DCP allegedly “disguised his ownership of some of the properties.”
The case, filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, with charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/408/22, had Mohammed Kyari and Ali Kyari, believed to be the former DCP’s siblings, as co-defendants.
The government had also alleged that the disgraced DCP did not declare his ownership of “an estate at Linda Chaulker Road, Asokoro Extension; plot no. 5 titled BO/4546; plot no. 9 titled BO/1037; plot no. 10 titled CER/4319 and plot no 33 titled BO/4319, Maiduguri, Borno State.”
Additionally, the AGF said the suspended DCP failed to reveal his ownership of “a shopping mall titled, NE/1229 and a polo playground with plot no. 270, both located in Maiduguri.
