The court denies Abba Kyari’s motion to dismiss charges.

Wednesday, the Federal High Court in Abuja denied a request by suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari to dismiss charges against him.

According to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act, the court has the exclusive authority and jurisdiction to hear drug-related cases.

Justice Nwite determined that Section 251 of the Constitution grants the court the authority to hear and determine the charge.

Kyari had told the court that the charges against him were unwarranted, insisting that the NDLEA should have waited until the police had exhausted their internal resources before initiating legal action.

He informed the court that the Police had initiated an investigation into the allegations made against him and issued an interim report.

Kyari insisted that he could not be charged in court until the conclusion of the police’s internal investigation.

He argued that the PSC has the same authority to investigate and discipline erring police officers in accordance with the Police Act and Regulations as the National Judicial Council (NJC).

However, the judge ruled that the Police Service Commission does not have authority over the Federal High Court.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency is prosecuting Kyari, a former head of the Intelligence Response Team for the Nigeria Police Force.

Four members of the IRT, ACP Sunday J. Ubua, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirgba, and Inspector John Nuhu, were charged with conspiracy to distribute 17.55kg of cocaine before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

They were also charged with illegally dealing in cocaine, conspiring to tamper with cocaine, and illegally tampering with the 21.35 kilograms of cocaine confiscated from two convicted drug dealers.

(TNT)