Court Rejects DSS Suit To Prolong Emefiele’s Detention

• The Court had ordered his remand in a Correctional Centre while awaiting the fulfilment of his bail conditions
• On the basis of purported fresh material it had acquired, the DSS legal team quietly submitted the request on Wednesday

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A Department of State Services, DSS appeal seeking an order extending the detention of the troubled Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was rejected by a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja.

According to Channels Television, the DSS legal team secretly submitted the request on Wednesday in light of allegedly fresh information.

Justice Hamza Muazu rejected the application, citing an abuse of the legal system and a lack of jurisdiction.

The DSS made the request after the agency had previously detained Emefiele outside of the Lagos courthouse after the judge had mandated that he be held in a correctional facility while his bail conditions were being followed.

The DSS’s counsel, Victor Ejelonu, chose to withdraw the matter after the judge raised questions about the court’s jurisdiction, given the exclusive rights of the Magistrate Court to grant detention orders under sections 293 and 296 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.