By Editor (GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER)

Two of Abba Kyari’s co-defendants in the cocaine offences trial going on at the Federal High Court in Abuja have pleaded guilty.

The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had produced all the seven defendants, including Kyari, a suspended deputy commissioner of police, before the court for arraignment on Monday.

The NDLEA had filed eight counts of hard drug trafficking against Mr Kyari, who is also wanted in the United States for his relationship with the convicted fraudster, Ramon ‘Hushpuppi’ Abbas.

Chibuna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, who are non-police officers, stunned lawyers and the court audience when they admitted their guilt to counts 5, 6 and 7, after the court registrar read the charges.

“I’m guilty my Lord,” Umeibe and Ezenwanne said in their separate pleas to the three counts.

The charges relate to the unlawful importation of 21.35kilogrammes of cocaine.

Meanwhile, Kyari and the four other police officers pleaded not guilty to the eight-count charge.