Court Strikes Out DSS Suit Seeking To Keep Emefiele In Detention

Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja has dismissed a request filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) seeking a 14-day extended detention order for the suspended Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele.

The DSS based its application on purported new evidence it had discovered.

The application was discreetly filed by the DSS’s legal team on Wednesday and came before the vacation judge today.

Justice Muazu dismissed the application, citing it as an abuse of court process and identifying the lack of jurisdiction.

Upon questioning by the judge about the court’s jurisdiction, given the exclusive rights of the Magistrate Court to grant detention orders under Sections 293 and 296 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the DSS’s counsel, Mr. Victor Ejelonu, opted to withdraw the matter.

The application came in the wake of Mr. Emefiele’s re-arrest by the DSS from the Federal High Court premises in Lagos, following his remand in a Correctional Centre while awaiting the fulfilment of his bail conditions granted by Justice Nicholas Oweibo.