On January 8, 2024, a Federal Capital Territory High Court will render a decision about the enforcement of a basic rights lawsuit brought by Godwin Emefiele, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
In order to defend his fundamental rights to life, personal liberty, a fair trial, and freedom of movement, Emefiele had taken the Federal Government, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Executive Chairman, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the commission to court after his protracted detention.
In addition, he requested a declaration from the court stating that it is illegal for him to have been detained by the first and second respondents’ agency since June 10, 2023, and to have been transferred to the third and fourth respondents’ custody on October 26, 2023, without first being charged in court.
Similarly, he prayed the court to order the respondents to pay N1bn as damages for the violation of his fundamental rights.
However, upon his release by the court, he requested that the respondents refrain from making more arrests or detentions of him without filing a criminal complaint against him.
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Mathew Burkaa SAN, Emefiele’s attorney, informed the court during the hearing that was reopened on Monday that the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria had been unlawfully jailed for 151 days.
For this reason, he begged the court to rule in his client’s favor and grant damages.
Burkaa claimed that the first and second respondents’ claim that Emefiele’s affidavit, which supported the original summons, lacked deponent authority, demonstrated more.
He claimed that Dr. Okanta Emefiele, the deponent, never met with the applicant to provide the deposition, indicating that the Federal Government had placed him under incommunicado.
He contended that there was sufficient justification for the court to rule in Emefiele’s favor and that every Nigerian was entitled to the court’s protection.
He further begged the court, stating that he was afraid of being jailed again due to the respondents’ actions and that Emefiele’s rights had been infringed.
In response, Oyin Koleosho, SAN, the first and second respondents’ attorney, asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit for lacking in merit.
He stated that the deponent to the affidavit supporting the original summons was the authority and the source of information used by the government to support its resistance to the complaint.
He claims that although the application was submitted on October 31, Emefiele was moved into the EFCC’s custody on October 26.
