Judge Orders DSS To Arraign Emefiele In One Week

The Department of State Services, DSS, has been given one week to decide whether to bring charges against the imprisoned suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to court or release him. This decision was made by Justice Hamza Muazu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

On Thursday, the Judge gave the order while rendering a decision in a basic human rights lawsuit Emefiele had filed against the DSS and others.

The DSS has the authority to carry out its legal obligations to make arrests, hold people in custody, and ensure the prevention of internal crime, according to Justice Muazu, but these obligations must be carried out within the bounds of the law.

He claimed that the DSS’s ability to make arrests was limited by the rules governing the circumstances and duration of holding a Nigerian citizen.

Emefiele had dragged the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Director General DSS, and DSS to court, seeking enforcement of his fundamental human rights to freedom of movement and dignity to human life.

In the suit instituted on his behalf by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Joseph Daudu, the suspended CBN Governor had applied that his arrest and detention since June 10 without valid order of court be voided and set aside.

Emefiele demanded compensation of N5M as exemplary damages for his alleged unlawful detention.