ABUJA– On Thursday, a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama denied a new request by the Department of State Services (DSS) for an extension of the 14-day detention of Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s suspended governor.
In a decision written by Justice Hamza Muazu, the court ruled that the application amounted to an abuse of the legal system and that the court lacked the authority to consider it.
In particular, the security agency informed the court in the application with the file number FCT/HC/M/12105/2023 that it had discovered new information that would necessitate it to continue holding the top bank governor in custody.
Therefore, it requested permission from the court to keep Emefiele in detention for an additional 14 days in order to complete its ongoing investigation.
However, when the case was called for a hearing, Justice Muazu requested a statement from Mr. Victor Ejelonu, the agency’s legal representative, regarding whether the court has the necessary jurisdiction to grant the application in light of Sections 293 and 296 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
Justice Muazu pointed out that the Magistrate Court has the sole authority to grant such applications under the aforementioned regulations.
The DSS’s attorney, Mr. Ejelonu, filed and withdrew it in response to the judge’s observation that the high court had the authority to issue the order.
It will be recalled that on June 10, DSS agents broke into Emefiele’s Lagos home in Ikoyi and took him into custody.
A day after President Bola Tinubu had removed Emefiele from his position as CBN governor, he was arrested.
Until Wednesday, when he was brought before the Federal High Court in Lagos on a two-count charge of illegal possession of a pistol and ammunition, the controversial CBN chairman remained in detention.
In the meantime, the court granted Emefiele bail in the amount of N20 million with one surety in the same amount after his arraignment and admission of innocence.
Trial Judge Nicolas Oweibo ruled that the defendant should remain in jail custody until his bail conditions were fully satisfied.
The DSS re-arrested Emefiele on the court grounds when he refused to obey the court’s order, and in the process, its agents severely assaulted a senior jail official.
Mr. Nnamdi Mba, an attorney based in Abuja, reacted to the DSS’s latest request for a detention order by claiming that the security service had disrespected the court.
He said: “You cannot be charging someone to court and yet you cannot obey the same court.
“What the DSS is doing is tantamount to intimidating the courts.”
Likewise, another lawyer, Mr. C. C Nwodu, added: “Ordinarily, when a person is brought to court and takes his plea, it is no longer the duty of the security agency that brought the defendant to court to determine where the person will be held in custody. It is the duty of the court.
“Hence, once a defendant is granted bail, except the judge specifically mentioned otherwise, the men of the Nigeria Correctional Service take custody of such person until the bail conditions are perfected.
“In the case of Emefiele, the DSS practically abducted him from the custody of the Correctional Service and have now filed for an order seeking to further detain him for 14 days, when they have held him consecutively for over six weeks and have exhausted the maximum two previous orders to detain him for 28 days.
“No judge, knowing the true facts of this matter can grant them such application. I am glad to hear that the judge courageously struck out the application,” he added.
