Deborah Onyofufeke, Abuja
A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja yesterday quashed the moves by the State Security Services to arrest the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, on allegations of financing terrorism and other economic crimes.

Justice M.A Hassan in a well-considered judgment on the Originating Motion marked GAR/CV/41/2022 filed by the Incorporated Trustees of Forum for Accountability and Good Leadership to enforce the Fundamental rights of Emefiele against the five respondents mentioned in the suit.

Which is the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), the Inspector-General of Police, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Justice Hassan in his judgement, restrained the DSS from further harassing, humiliating, embarrassing, and threatening to incarcerate or detain Emefiele over the trumped-up allegations of terrorism financing and fraudulent practices.

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The judge further restrained the DSS and any person acting through them from inviting, arresting, and/or detaining the Governor of the CBN in the guise of having committed any offence concerning allegations of terrorism financing, fraudulent activities, or in any other manner whatsoever interfering with his rights to freedom of movement, personal liberty, human dignity or interfering with the tenure, functions, and discharge of his duties as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria except by an order of a superior court.

Furthermore, the court relying on the orders of the Federal High Court in Suit FHC/ABJ/CS/2255/2022 delivered by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court Justice J.T Tsoho, lampooned the DSS and declared that any continuous harassment, intimidation, threats, restriction of free movement, abuse of the right of office, surreptitious moves to arrest and humiliate Emefiele over the trumped up allegations of terrorism financing.

“And fraudulent practices etc by the Service and their officers are vindictive, unwarranted, abrasive, oppressive and constitutes a flagrant breach of his rights to personal liberty, the dignity of the human person, right to policy-making powers, freedom of thought, conscience and religion and movement as respectively provided and enshrined under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act and therefore unconstitutional and illegal.

The judge further held that the SSS acted wrongfully and illegally in instigating the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria against Emefiele in respect of the exercise of his statutory duty relating to the issuance of monetary policies and directives in the interest of national security and the economy.