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 constitutional obligations to make arrests, hold people in custody, and ensure the prevention of internal crime, but Justice Muazu ruled that these obligations must be fulfilled 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 filed a lawsuit against the Attorney General of the Federation, Director General of the DSS, and DSS to have his basic human rights to freedom of movement and dignity of life enforced.

The suspended CBN Governor requested that his arrest and imprisonment since June 10 be annulled and set aside in the lawsuit brought on his behalf by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Joseph Daudu.

Emefiele asked for N5 million in exemplary damages to make up for his purportedly illegal arrest.