The Federal High Court in Abuja has instructed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to compensate German national Martin Gegenheimer.
Gegenheimer was awarded ₦63.7m and $10,000 for his unlawful arrest and detention by the Nigerian Immigration Service in 2020 during the COVID-19 period.
The court directed the CBN to transfer the awarded sum to the ECOWAS Court in a lawsuit identified as ECW/CCJ/APP/23/2020.
The ECOWAS Court had previously ruled in Gegenheimer’s favor on March 4, 2021, declaring his arrest and detention illegal.
The regional court ordered the Nigerian government to pay Gegenheimer ₦53,650,925 as special damages and an additional ₦10m in general damages.
Gegenheimer claimed that during his detention, he was subjected to poor conditions, including lack of decent food and medical care, and was denied a fair hearing.
Justice Inyang Ekwo ruled in favor of Gegenheimer, ordering the CBN to deduct the amount from the Federal Government’s funds in its custody to settle the debt arising from the ECOWAS Court’s judgment.
The court rejected the CBN’s argument that the Federal Government’s foreign exchange accounts were in deficit, stating that ECOWAS Court judgments could be enforced by Nigerian courts.
