Abba Kyari, the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), has disputed ownership of properties purportedly linked to him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in an ongoing asset-disclosure trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
On Tuesday, November 4, 2025, Kyari testified before Justice James Omotosho, dismissing the charges as “shocking and untrue,” saying that some of the assets in question were owned by his late father.
“Some of those properties belonged to my late father, who had about 30 children,” the embattled former Intelligence Response Team (IRT) director told the court.
Kyari stated that he was surprised when the NDLEA linked various assets to him, emphasizing that the documentation pertaining to those properties were in the possession of the Borno State Ministry of Land.
He also denied owning a polo ground in Borno State, claiming that such an acquisition was beyond his means.
“Even Dangote, Nigeria’s richest man, does not own such a property; how much more someone like me,” Kyari remarked, eliciting murmurs from the courtroom.
The suspended DCP insisted that the Borno polo ground mentioned by the NDLEA had existed long before his birth.
“The polo ground had existed since I was a child. “We used to go there to play,” he added, describing the agency’s assertion as “misinformed and misleading.”
Kyari’s defence team also maintained that the NDLEA’s case was based on “assumptions” rather than proven ownership records.
While disputing ownership of the other properties, Kyari confessed that he owned a farm on the Abuja-Kaduna route that he has operated for over a decade. He told the court that the farmland was his sole personal investment, acquired through lawful revenues.
“I’ve been managing that farmland for approximately ten years now. “It’s my only property,” he stated.
According to reports, Kyari, a once-celebrated police officer who led high-profile anti-kidnapping operations across Nigeria, was suspended in 2022 for his involvement in a drug-related issue.
The NDLEA accused him of colluding with international drug gangs and neglecting to disclose several assets.
He has now pled not guilty to all counts. The court continued the hearing at a later date.
