According to Yero, Kyari initially only disclosed three bank accounts. However, a forensic analysis of his BVN data, obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), revealed that he had ten active bank accounts, including domiciliary accounts in pounds sterling, euros, and dollars.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
Kyari Abba On Thursday, March 13, the trial of Abba Kyari, the contentious former Deputy Commissioner of Police, continued at the Federal High Court in Abuja. According to a prosecution witness, a probe found over ₦200 million in Kyari’s accounts, which is more than his official wages. The money was traced using Kyari’s Bank Verification Number (BVN), which was connected to 12 accounts, 10 of which were active, according to the witness, Ahmed Yero, a Chief Investigator of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
In his testimony as the ninth prosecution witness (PW-9), Yero stated that his team was tasked by the NDLEA’s Directorate of Assets & Financial Investigation to look into the defendant’s financial activity on February 14, 2022. Kyari had only declared three bank accounts at first, according to Yero, but forensic examination of his BVN data, which were acquired from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), showed that he had ten active bank accounts, including domiciliary accounts in dollars, euros, and pounds sterling.
According to Yero, “one of the accounts is a salary account through which the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) paid salaries and allowances to the first defendant (Kyari).” The witness further stated that following a 16-year analysis of Kyari’s bank records from 2006 to 2022, the NDLEA found that deposits into his accounts greatly outstripped his known police earnings. The NDLEA investigation further revealed that money designated as “operational funds” was sent straight into Kyari’s accounts from the CBN. Nonetheless, family members and acquaintances received a sizable amount of these cash.
“We matched the defendant’s account inflows with the total amount of money he received in salary and other benefits. According to Yero’s testimony, “our analysis revealed that over ₦200 million was received beyond what he should have earned officially.” According to the witness, Kyari insisted on explaining himself only in court and declined to provide the NDLEA a written statement.
Despite Kyari’s defense attorney, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), who withheld his reasons for contesting the admissibility until later in the trial, the court nevertheless entered his bank statements and BVN analysis into evidence. The NDLEA witness admitted during cross-examination that Kyari was previously considered a “super cop” because of his involvement in battling crime, but he said the troubled officer did not back up his allegation that he was involved in agriculture.
Yero continued, “He failed to declare some assets but declared others, including landed properties in Maiduguri, Borno State.” Yero said that he was unaware of any previous convictions when asked if Kyari had ever been found guilty in a court of law. He did point out, though, that some of the unreported assets linked to Kyari were allegedly the property of his late wife or father. Although the witness acknowledged that there is no legal restriction on a person having more than one bank account, he insisted that Kyari’s accounts had more money than his known salary.
Statements of accounts connected to Kyari were among the three bundles of documents that Sterling Bank Compliance Officer David Ajoma had produced earlier in the hearings. The NDLEA revealed plans to call two more witnesses in the case, and Justice James Omotosho postponed the trial until March 24, 2025, after the witness’s evidence.
In addition to the 10-count charge of asset concealment, Kyari and four members of his former Intelligence Response Team (IRT) are charged with eight counts of tampering with cocaine that was taken from two convicted drug traffickers at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu. ACP Sunday J. Ubia, ASP Bawa James, Insp. Simon Agirigba, and Insp. John Nuhu are all on trial with Kyari. All of the defendants have entered not guilty pleas and are still being held while their cases are being decided.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
