Inspector general of police Usman Baba has requested the chairman and CEO of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Mohamed Buba Marwa to ensure the identification, arrest and investigation of the agency’s officers who joined the suspended deputy police commissioner Abba Kyari in drug business.
Force spokesman Muyiwa Adejobi stated this on Monday after the police handed over Kyari and four accomplices to the NDLEA.
He said that the police had carried out discreet investigation when it received a request from the NDLEA on February 10.
He said, “The interim investigations report revealed that two international drug couriers identified as Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus, both males, were arrested at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on January 19.
“The suspects were arrested upon their arrival from Addis Ababa aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight ET917.”
Adejobi said the case and the two suspects were subsequently transferred to the NDLEA on January 25.
He said the findings of the in-house investigation ordered by the I-G established reasonable grounds for strong suspicion that the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) officers involved in the operation could have been involved in some underhand and unprofessional dealings.
“Beyond this, the Police investigation also established that the international narcotics cartel involved in this case have strong ties with some officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) who are on their pay roll.
“The two arrested drug couriers confirmed that the modus is for the transnational drug barons to conspire with the NDLEA officers on duty and send them their pre-boarding photographs for identification.
According to him, the two arrested drug couriers also confirmed that they have been enjoying this relationship with the NDLEA officers at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport since 2021.
Adejobi said police investigations report had earlier indicted Kyari, who had been on suspension for alleged involvement in a fraud case being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
