The Department of State Services (DSS) has been given a one-week ultimatum to charge the detained suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), Godwin Emefiele to court or release him.
Justice Hamza Muazu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja gave the ruling as he delivered his judgment on the fundamental rights case filed by Emefiele against the DSS and others.
Muazu said Emefiele failed to prove that his arrest and investigation was illegal, but said he was entitled to a fair trial.
The judge also noted that the suspended CBN governor cannot remain in custody without formal charges, adding that the DSS could not use the time Emefiele was in custody to find evidence against him.
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In addition, the court ruled that the DSS was empowered to fulfill its constitutional duties to arrest, detain and prevent internal crime, but also said that those duties must be carried out within the law.
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Emefiele had sued the Attorney General of the Federation AGF and the Director-General of DSS in a bid to enforce her fundamental rights to freedom of movement and dignity of human life.
In the suit, the suspended CBN Governor wanted his arrest and detention without a valid court order set aside and quashed since June 10.
Emefiele sought damages of N5m as exemplary damages for his alleged illegal detention.
He was sacked as CBN governor on June 9 and arrested at his home in Ikoyi, Lagos in the early hours of June 10.
The bank’s top boss was arrested by the DSS on June 10, shortly after the order by President Bola Tinubu, and has been in custody since then.
