By Deborah Onyofufeke, Abuja
At the resumed hearing in the trial of DCP Abba Kyari and others, yesterday, at the federal High Court in Abuja, Mohammed Ajia, the Commander, FCT Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, shortly after he was led in evidence by NDLEA’s lawyer, Mr Joseph Sunday, the director, Prosecution and Legal Services, said in their investigation at the FCT Command, they found out that the exhibit (cocaine)came in from Ethiopia to Enugu Airport.

Ajia, who is the 4th prosecution witness, during cross examination by counsel to 1st, 4th and 5th defendants, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN told trial Justice Emeka Nwite, that the NDLEA operatives at theairport were not the people who brought the cocaine parks (Exhibits 7 and 8)seized from the suspects, to him.

When Ikpeazu asked Ajia, if the operatives of the NDLEA at the Enugu Inter- national Airport, the two suspected drug dealers, who arrived in the country, had been arrested and prosecuted, he replied
in the negative.

He, however, explained that his duty, as FCT Command head, was to oversee the operational and administrative affairs of the command.

Ikpeazu asked “As a commander, have you found out whether your operatives who allowed this drug into Nigeria have been arrested and prosecuted for escorting drugs into Nigeria?” the lawyer asked.

The witness said: “It is not within my purview to find out. Am I the commander
of Nigeria?”

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He, however, answered in the affirmative that the police officers being prosecuted by the NDLEA were the people who truly arrested the drug traffickers, after the agency officers check.

The witness admitted that the agency maintains its operatives at all the inter- national airport in Nigeria.
Explaining how the case got to his desk, he said on Feburary 4, he received a transfer letter addressed to him from one Assistant Commissioner of Police by name, Sunday Ubia (the 2nd defendant), signed on behalf of DCP IRT, about two suspected drug traffickers and the exhibits.

“They later transferred two suspected drug traffickers by name; Emeka Alphonsus, 45 years, and Patrick Chibunna, 29 years to the command,” he said.

He added that the exhibits were three internationals passports and two identity cards.

He further explained that on the nature of the drugs transferred to him, they had received at the FCT Command, 12 white powdery packs of the powdery substance suspected to be cocaine and additional 12 powdery packs in pallet form.

“All in all, there were 24 packs parked in two traveling bags; one brown and the
other greenish colour.

“We acknowledged the receipt of the transferred letter and documented the
letter to my exhibit keeper.

Trial Justice Nwite, had admitted the evidence as Exhibit 13. The witness also identified the two traveling bags marked as Exhibits 7 and 8 containing the cocaine substance.

He next, admitted to witnessing the testing of those substance.

“The testing was done pack by pack; each pack has to be tested differently.

“And the results, generally, about 80 percent tested positive for cocaine while in others, there were traces of cocaine in the substance which suggested that the substance might have been adulterated with another substance,” he said.