The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to block the payment of N63.7 million and $10,000 awarded against the Federal Government in favour of a German, Martin Gegenheimer.
The sums were awarded against the apex bank over the German’s unlawful arrest and detention by men of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
A three-member panel of the appellate court held, in a unanimous judgment on May 23, that the appeal by the CBN was devoid of any scintilla of merit.
In the lead judgment, Justice Hamman Barka resolved the two issues identified for determination against the CBN in favour of Gegenheimer, the first respondent.
The Appeal Court affirmed the February 22, 2024 ruling by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordering the CBN to pay Gegenheimer the N63.7 million and $10,000 awarded against the Nigerian government in a 2021 judgment by the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
