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A fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by suspended DCP Abba Kyari, against National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, was dismissed on Thursday by the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The judge, Inyang Ekwo, dismissed the N500 million fundamental rights suit for lack of diligent prosecution by Mr Kyari’s legal team.
Kyari had filed the suit to challenge his alleged unlawful detention by NDLEA which arrested him and others over cocaine-trafficking allegations in February.
The agency subsequently filed charges against him and his co-defendants before another judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja. The trial court has since ordered him and his co-defendants to remain in detention throughout his trial.
It was gathered that Kyari’s lawyer, Cynthia Ikena, was absent when the fundamental rights enforcement suit came up on Thursday.
With this development, NDLEA’s lawyer, Joseph Sunday, who is the agency’s Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, urged the court to strike out the suit.
Responding, the judge noted that he was informed that Ms Ikena sent a letter, praying the court for an adjournment.
The judge directed that the letter be shown to the NDLEA’s counsel, Mr. Sunday, who expressed surprise with the development. He said he was not copied in the letter by the rule of the court.
He said the letter was not filed by the applicant and therefore not in compliance with the court’s rule.
He prayed the court to strike out the matter.
After listening to the NDLEA’s lawyer, Mr Ekwo struck out the case.
The judge, after going into the substantive matter and seeing that parties had joined issues in the suit, went ahead to dismiss the case.
The decision came less than a month after the judge threatened to dismiss the suit following the delay by Mr Kyari’s lawyer to serve NDLEA counsel with a filing.
Kyari, who also has fraud charges pending against him in the U.S. and faces extradition proceedings in Nigeria, filed a suit for the enforcement of his fundamental rights against NDLEA in February.
In the document, Mr Kyari, who described the allegation against him by NDLEA as “trumped-up,” said the agency had failed to establish a prima facie case against him.
He averred that the allegation linking him to an international drug cartel by the anti-narcotic agency was untrue.
He said since the Nigerian Police Force arrested him and handed him over to the NDLEA, he has been kept in custody since February 12, without having access to his medical treatment.
Mr Kyari, a former head of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), demanded N500 million in damages from the NDLEA over alleged unlawful arrest and detention.
He also sought an order directing the NDLEA to tender a written apology to him in two national dailies.