An FCT High Court in Abuja has dismissed a request filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) seeking an order to detain former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Godwin Emefiele for an extra 14 days.
The application was discreetly filed on Wednesday and presented before the vacation judge Justice Hamza Muazu on Thursday.
The secret police sought more time to detain Emefiele over purported new evidence it had discovered.
Justice Muazu dismissed the application, citing it as an abuse of court process and identifying the lack of jurisdiction.
The Magistrate Court has exclusive rights to grant detention orders under Sections 293 and 296 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the judge said.
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Consequently, counsel to the DSS Victor Ejelonu withdrew the application.
The application came in the wake of the DSS’s forceful re-arrest of Emefiele at the Federal High Court premises in Lagos on Tuesday.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo had ordered his remand in a correctional centre pending the time he meets his bail conditions.
