Court struck out suit to extend Emefiele’s detention by 14days

By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja

An application to hold the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele by the Department of State Services (DSS) for another 14 days, was Thursday, struck out.
Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Maitama, struck it out for being an abuse of court process and for lack of jurisdiction.
Emefiele who has been in the custody of the DSS for more than six weeks now was ordered to be released or charged to court within a week by the court.
He was later granted bail by the a Federal High Court in Lagos, but has been battling with his release since then.
When the application marked FCT/HC/M/12105/2023 and filed by the agency came up before the vacation judge on Thursday, the DSS told the court that a fresh evidence have been uncovered that makes the request for the order very imperative.
Justice Muazu questioned the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter.
Therefore, he drew the attention of counsel to the DSS, Victor Ejelonu to the provisions of Sections 293 and 296 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act which vests exclusive rights on the Magistrate Court to grant detention order.
Consequent to the above, the DSS applied and withdrew the matter.
It would seem that what the DSS did was an attempt to use the court to legalize what the Service did in Lagos, where they abducted Mr. Emefiele from the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service.