Two separate fundamental rights enforcement lawsuits brought by two siblings of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, against the Attorney General of the Federation and the Department of State Services have been dismissed by a Federal Capital Territory High court.
The two brothers, George Emefiele and Okanta Emefiele, separately petitioned the court for a permanent restraining order prohibiting the secret police from inviting, intimidating, harassing, arresting, or detaining them in relation to the ongoing DSS investigation of the suspended central bank governor.
At the resumption of the cases’ hearings on Wednesday, counsel for the applicants, Grace Ehusani, informed the court that the applicants had filed a notice of discontinuance of the case, although she did not provide any justification for the application.
On the other hand, counsel for the DSS, Ibrahim Awo, urged the court to dismiss the case rather than strike it out, as the applicants’ counsel had requested.
He added that a charge of N2 million should be levied against the petitioners in favour of the respondents.
AGF’s counsel, Maimuma Lami-Sheru, granted Awo’s request.
In his ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Emmanuel Okpe, dismissed the cases and ordered that the applicants pay no fees.
