On Monday, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi of an FCT High Court awarded the suspended former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) N100 million in damages against the federal government and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for abuses of his rights.
Emefiele has sued the Federal Government, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to assert his fundamental rights to life, personal liberty, a fair hearing, and freedom of movement.
Emefiele requested a court declaration that his continuing incarceration by the first and second respondents’ agencies from June 10, 2023, and subsequent transfer to the custody of the third and fourth respondents on October 26, 2023, without being charged in court, is illegal.
He said the respondent’s deviance from several valid subsisting court orders for his release amounts to a grave violation of his fundamental rights to life, and personal liberty, as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
He, therefore, among others sought an injunction restraining the respondents from further arresting and or further detaining him upon his release by the court without proffering a criminal charge against him. He also sought damages of N1 billion in his favour for the violation of his fundamental rights.
