The Federal Capital Territory High Court has dismissed a request by the Department of State Services for an “extended detention order” to keep the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, in its custody for additional 14 days.
The secret police picked up Emefiele on June 10 shortly after his suspension by President Bola Tinubu.
After being in detention for over a month, the DSS took him before the Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday where he was arraigned on two counts of illegal firearms possession.
He was granted bail by the court, which ordered that he should be remanded at the Ikoyi facility of the Nigeria Correctional Service pending the perfection of the bail terms.
Rather than allow him to be taken to the correctional centre, however, the DSS rearrested him amid a clash with prison officials.
The suit, marked FCT/HC/M/12105/2023, was a sequel to the rearrest, with the DSS asking the FCT High Court to grant him an order to detain Emefiele further.
In the application, the secret police said it had discovered new evidence against the suspended CBN Governor.
The DSS also prayed the court to allow it to hold Emefiele in custody for another 14 days, to give room for the conclusion of its ongoing investigation.
However, the court, in a ruling by Justice Hamza Muazu, declined the prayer, describing the suit as an abuse of the court process.
The judge, who said he lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter, noted that the provisions of granting such application lie with the magistrates’ court as stipulated under Sections 293 and 296 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
The DSS’ counsel, Victor Ejelonu, however, withdrew the matter after the judge raised questions on jurisdiction.