The Department of State Services (DSS) suffered a setback in its attempt to prolong the detention of Mr Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank who was suspended over corruption allegations.
The DSS had secretly filed an application last Thursday at the Maitama High Court in Abuja, seeking an additional 14-day detention order for Mr Emefiele based on new evidence they claimed to have found.
However, the application was dismissed by vacation judge Justice Hamza Muazu, who ruled that it was an abuse of court process and beyond his jurisdiction.
The DSS had argued that Mr Emefiele’s case was a matter of national security and that they needed more time to interrogate him.
However, Justice Muazu pointed out that Sections 293 and 296 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act gave the Magistrate Court the exclusive right to grant detention orders. He also questioned why the DSS had not charged Mr Emefiele to court after holding him for more than six weeks. The DSS’s lawyer, Victor Ejelonu, withdrew the application after the judge’s questioning.
Many observers believe that the DSS’s move was a desperate attempt to justify their illegal seizure of Mr Emefiele from the Nigeria Correctional Service’s custody in Lagos, where he was remanded after pleading not guilty to the charges against him. The DSS had whisked him away without a court order, claiming that he was still under investigation.
The public reaction to the DSS’s failed bid to get more time to detain Mr Emefiele has been overwhelmingly negative. Several lawyers have condemned the DSS’s actions as unlawful, unconstitutional, and disrespectful of the court. They have also called for the immediate release of Mr Emefiele and the sanctioning of those responsible for his abduction.
Abuja-based constitutional lawyer, Nnamdi Mba in a chat with Nigerian Tribune said, “You cannot be charging someone to court yet you cannot obey the same court. What the DSS is doing is tantamount to intimidating the courts.”
Another lawyer, C. C. Nwudo who analyzed the situation said, “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 but the duty of the court. Hence once a defendant is granted bail, except the judge specifically mentions otherwise, the men of the Nigeria Correctional Service take custody of such person until the bail conditions are perfected.
“Except they tell a bunch of lies in their application to the judge, 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 their application”
Another lawyer, Mr. Hassan Omale in his own reaction said the abduction of Emefiele by the DSS from the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service without a Court order is unlawful and outright criminal and whoever gave the order for such to happen ought to be removed from office immediately.
He said, “With the application having been struck out by the Court, the DSS is now in a very difficult position to continue to further detain Mr. Emefiele who has been in their custody for more than six weeks.
“They cannot continue to hold him illegally and they cannot get another magistrate order to overrule the order of the High Court since the High Court does not have jurisdiction to grant them such an order.
“This is yet another judicial loss suffered by the DSS against Emefiele in a case that has been dubbed by many as persecution and personal vendetta.”
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