In a dramatic courtroom testimony before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, convicted drug trafficker Emeka Ezenwanne revealed how he smuggled cocaine into Nigeria and paid N10,000 in bribes to bypass airport security—offering damning insight into Nigeria’s drug enforcement failures and the ongoing corruption trial involving suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari.
Ezenwanne, who is currently serving a two-year sentence at Suleja Correctional Centre, appeared as the fifth prosecution witness in the high-profile trial of Kyari and four members of his now-disbanded Intelligence Response Team (IRT). The officers are facing an eight-count charge of drug trafficking and evidence tampering, brought by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The 5th prosecution witness detailed how on January 15, 2022, he flew to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, using an Ethiopian Airlines flight, where he received ten sachets of cocaine from two couriers arriving from Brazil. “They handed me the drugs at the airport lounge,” he recounted, “and one even took my photograph after the exchange.”
On his return trip to Nigeria via Enugu International Airport on January 19, Ezenwanne claimed he was intercepted alongside his associate, Chibunna Patrick Umeibe, by plainclothes operatives later identified as IRT officers. “As soon as I approached my companion outside the terminal, a Sienna vehicle pulled up and men jumped out. I was bundled into the car after shouting, ‘Jesus! Jesus! Is this how it ends?’” he said, describing the surprise arrest.
What followed, according to Ezenwanne, was a sequence of events that would cast a long shadow over the credibility of the officers now standing trial. He said their bags were seized, searched at a remote police station, and photographed before being transported to the IRT office in Abuja. There, discrepancies in the weight and quantity of the cocaine emerged.
“When we saw our bags again on January 25, the weight was clearly reduced. I used to have 10 sachets, but only eight were left. My associate noticed missing items too,” he testified, adding that some of the confiscated drugs tested negative for cocaine after being handed over to NDLEA.
Ezenwanne told the court that on both occasions he smuggled cocaine into Nigeria, he was never stopped by airport authorities, revealing instead that immigration officials at Enugu simply asked for a bribe. “They told me to pay for a smooth search. I handed over N10,000 and walked through,” he said.
Under cross-examination by Kyari’s defense counsel, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), Ezenwanne admitted he never met or spoke to Kyari himself during his arrest and detention. “I did not see the first defendant at any point,” he confirmed, also noting that despite offering to surrender the drugs during the arrest, he was still detained.
The NDLEA alleges that Kyari and his officers tampered with over 21kg of cocaine seized from Ezenwanne and Umeibe and that only a fraction—3.8kg—tested positive during official procedures. Another suspect, ASP John Umoru, remains at large.
The charges against Kyari and his co-accused stem from incidents between January 19 and 25, 2022, and fall under Section 14(b) of the NDLEA Act. The agency contends the officers were involved in both tampering with evidence and unauthorized dealings in narcotics.
The trial continues as the prosecution seeks to prove the complicity of the elite police unit in what could become one of the most sensational corruption cases in Nigeria’s law enforcement history.
