Post Views: 75

Damilola Aina, Abuja

Daily Courier – A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced two co-defendants in a suit filed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) against suspended DCP Abba Kyari over an alleged drug deal to two years imprisonment.

Justice Emeka Nwite, in a judgment, said having admitted to committing the offence preferred against them in counts 5, 6 and 7 by the NDLEA, Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, who are 6th and 7th defendants, “are hereby convicted accordingly.”

Justice Nwite thereafter sentenced them to two years imprisonment on each of counts 5, 6 and 7.

He said the terms, which shall run concurrently, would commence from the day the defendants were arrested by the NDLEA.

The two defendants, Umeibe and Ezenwanne, who are 6th and 7th defendants respectively in the matter, are the two alleged drug traffickers arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu by the Nigerian police and handed over to the NDLEA.

You may like to read: Ekiti Guber Election Poll: Oni in early lead over Oyebanji

They had pleaded guilty to five, six and seven counts preferred against them by the anti-narcotic agency.

At the resumed hearing, counsel for the NDLEA, Sunday Joseph, told Justice Emeka Nwite that two motions seeking a plea bargain in respect of Umeibe and Ezenwanne had been filed.

Joseph said the motions, dated June 13, were filed on June 14.

The lawyer of the two defendants, E. U. Okenyi, also concurred with Joseph’s submission.

Also, counsel for other defendants, including Kyari, did not oppose the motions.

More so, the court, held that the defendants should forfeit their international passports in accordance with section 30 of the NDLEA Act, Cap M30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

In line with the plea bargain agreement, the court, okayed Umeibe and Ezenwanne to testify as witnesses in the trial of DCP Kyari and the other accused police officers, even as it ordered the NDLEA to ensure their safety in any Correctional Facility of their choice.

It directed the NDLEA to constantly monitor the two defendants to ensure that they do not engage in any drug related criminal activity while serving their jail term.