A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Thursday, dismissed a fundamental enforcement rights suit filed by suspended DCP Abba Kyari against the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Justice Inyang Ekwo dismissed the suit after counsel for the NDLEA, Joseph Sunday, prayed the court to strike out the matter.
Kyari’s lawyer, Cynthia Ikenna, was absent in court when the matter was called.
NDLEA’s Director of Prosecution and Legal Services urged the court to strike out the suit.
Meanwhile, Justice Ekwo said he was informed that Ikena sent a letter praying the court for an adjournment but the letter was not filed by the lawyer and therefore not in compliance with the court rule.
When the letter was shown to NDLEA’s prosecutor, he expressed surprise with the development saying, he was not copied in the letter in accordance with the rule of the court and therefore prayed the court to strike out the matter.
After listening to NDLEA’s lawyer, Justice Ekwo struck out the case.
Also, the judge, after going into the substantive matter and seeing that parties had joined issues in the suit, went ahead to dismiss the case.
Ekwo had, on March 15, threatened to strike out the fundamental enforcement rights suit following the delay by Ikena to serve Sunday her further and better affidavit after being served with the counter affidavit since February 28.
Justice Ekwo, in a short ruling, had threatened to strike out the suit if the lawyer was unprepared in the next adjourned date.
“Put your house in order before the next date of hearing and if you do not, I will assume you are frustrating this matter and the suit will be struck out,” he said.
Kyari had said that the NDLEA’s allegations against him were fictitious.
The suspended DCP disclosed this in an affidavit in support of his motion ex-parte marked: FHC/ANJ/CS/182/22 and filed before Ekwo.
The affidavit, dated February 16 and filed February 17, was deposed to by Kyari’s younger brother, Muhammad Usman.
Kyari, through Ikena, had filled the application to seek for his fundamental rights enforcement.
In the document, Kyari described the allegations against him by NDLEA as “trump-up.”
– NAN