Court gives DSS 7 days to charge Emefiele or release him

The Department of State Security Service (DSS) has been given a one-week deadline by Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, to decide whether to charge suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele with a crime or release him.

The Judge made the judgement in a fundamental human rights lawsuit Emefiele had filed against the DSS and others.

Emefiele hasn't demonstrated that his detention and inquiry were illegal, the court said, adding that he is entitled to a fair trial.

The suspended CBN governor cannot be held in custody without a formal charge, Justice Muazu added, and the DSS is not permitted to look for evidence against Emefiele while he is being held.

The DSS has the authority to carry out its constitutional obligations to make arrests, hold people in custody, and ensure the prevention of internal crime, but Justice Muazu emphasised that these obligations must be fulfilled in accordance with the law.

Emefiele filed a lawsuit against the Director General of the DSS and the Attorney General of the Federation AGF to have his fundamental human rights to freedom of movement and respect for life enforced.

The suspended CBN Governor requested in the lawsuit that his arrest and imprisonment since June 10 be annulled and set aside because there was no legal basis for them.

Emefiele asked for N5 million in exemplary damages to make up for his purportedly illegal arrest.

On June 9, he was removed from his position as CBN governor, and he was taken into custody early on June 10 at his home in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The DSS had detained the top bank governor since June 10 shortly after the president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, had suspended him.

Source