Attempts by the Department of State Services (DSS) to keep Mr Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, in its custody for an additional 14 days met a brick wall on Thursday when an Abuja Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, refused to grant the request.

The DSS had through its lawyer, Mr Victor Ejelonu, applied to further detain Mr Emefiele pending the conclusion of its ongoing investigation.

However, Justice Hamz Muazu noted that according to Sections 293 and 296 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the High Court does not have the requisite jurisdiction to grant such an application, adding that the power is vested in the Magistrate Court.

The Judge consequently decided that the application would not be granted because it was not in accordance with the proper judicial procedure. In response, Mr Ejelonu withdrew his application before the court.

Mr. Emefiele and the DSS have been at odds for a while, especially since his arrest on June 10, 2023, when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu removed him from his position as governor of the apex bank.

After being detained for six weeks, the DSS brought the former CBN boss to a Federal High Court in Ikoyi on Tuesday on a two-count charge bordering on illegal possession of firm arms.

At his arraignment, Mr Emefiele entered a plea of not guilty, and Justice Nicholas Oweibo granted him bail in the amount of N20 million with a surety who owns landed property in the area where the court is located. The court also ruled that he should be remanded in prison until his bail conditions were met.

However, the DSS, refusing to obey the court’s order, invaded the court premises and re-arrested the suspended CBN governor, resulting in a clash with prison officials, one of whom was manhandled. As a result, Nigerians were moved by the incident and described secret service agents as being unruly and disrespectful of the Nigerian judicial system.

The DSS spokesperson, Mr. Peter Afunanya, has defended the agency’s actions, claiming that despite the incident on the court grounds, the Department has not broken any laws in carrying out its operations.

He further argued that regardless of what occurred between his organisation and the officials of the Nigerian Correction Services on Tuesday, the Department has enormous respect for the country’s judiciary and other security agencies.

It is likely that the DSS may continue its search for a Court order that will enable it to still keep Mr. Emefiele in custody. But, as at the time of this report, Mr. Emefiele was yet to regain his freedom as he was still being held by the DSS.