In a case involving Abba Maina, a suspect connected to allegations of supporting Boko Haram, a Federal High Court in Abuja rejected a lawsuit against the Department of State Services (DSS) over claims of unlawful detention.

The court dismissed the lawsuit on Tuesday.

Maina was apprehended by the DSS at an Abuja bank in September 2022, following investigations tying him to financing terrorism, dealing in terrorist assets, and facilitating the movement of terrorists within Nigeria.

In the initial motion filed on November 22, 2022, Abba Maina took legal action against the Department of State Services (DSS) and its Director-General. He requested an order compelling the respondents to present him in court to investigate the reasons for his detention since September 19, 2022.

Additionally, Maina sought a bail order in accordance with Sections 32(3), 32(1) and (2), and 158 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, Article 36(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and other relevant laws.

Identifying himself as a ‘law-abiding Nigerian citizen,’ Maina revealed that he was arrested on September 19, 2022, at a branch of Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) in Abuja by DSS personnel. According to him, the arrest was linked to undisclosed accusations.

He further stated that the respondents, in violation of constitutional provisions mandating law enforcement agencies to present a suspect in court within 24 or 48 hours, kept him in detention.

The security agency contended that the lawsuit was an abuse of the legal system, citing a previous similar lawsuit filed in another court.

Justice Inyang Ekwo, in his Tuesday ruling, sided with the Department of State Services (DSS), acknowledging that the suit aiming for Maina’s release constituted an abuse of court processes.

He highlighted that initiating separate legal actions involving the same parties across different courts, even if on different grounds, amounted to an abuse of the judicial system.

Hence, the judge concurred with the Department of State Services (DSS) and its Director-General regarding the similarity between the fundamental rights suit labeled CV270/2022 before Justice A.Y. Shafa of the FCT High Court, filed on November 4, 2022, and the ongoing case labeled FHC/ABJ/CS/2090/2022.

This is clearly a situation where the applicant has fallen into the temptation of instituting different actions between the same parties simultaneously in different courts, even though on different grounds.

“The applicant could have clearly avoided this situation by taking one of the options available to him by law, exhausting one remedy before going for another, assuming that the next action would not be caught by the principle of res judicata.

“Consequently, nothing else is worthy of any consideration where a suit is found to be an abuse of process of the court.

The Department of State Services (DSS) had submitted court documents alleging that on September 12, they received intelligence from their Borno Command about plans to transfer N10 million to aid the relocation of certain Jama’atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lid-Dawa’awati wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram, members from Borno to a camp in Kaduna State.

This transfer was reportedly organized by an individual identified as Kaura (FNU), who is purportedly the armor-bearer for the terrorist group.

Further investigation by the DSS revealed that Kaura (FNU) sought bank account numbers from individuals named Baba Guraba and Bayero (FNU), identified as Boko Haram commanders stationed around Bama Local Government Area (LGA) in Borno.

Their involvement was allegedly to facilitate the transfer of the funds.

The agency stated that Bayero (FNU) provided a United Bank for Africa (UBA) account number, 2196498467, registered under Basiru Hassan’s name, and a GTB account number, 025264587, linked to Maina.

They alleged that while Hassan’s account received N6 million, Maina’s account received N4 million. According to their intelligence efforts, Kaura (FNU) instructed that transfers and withdrawals should be managed through Point of Sale (POS) operators.

“Kaura (FNU) initially deposited N2 million into the applicant’s GTB account number 0025264587 as the first payment.”

“Based on this intelligence gathering efforts, the Borno State Command of the 1st respondent sought and obtained the orders of the court to flag the said account numbers by placing a Post-No-Debit (PND) order and requesting that the account holders be apprehended whenever sighted,” it said.

The DSS reported that on September 19th, 2022, Maina was arrested at a GTB branch near the National Mosque in Abuja while attempting to inquire about the funds deposited into his account.

The agency claimed Maina was promptly detained due to suspected involvement in facilitating terrorist activities, financing terrorism, dealing in terrorist assets, and alleged roles in aiding the movement of terrorists within Nigeria.

Their investigation purportedly revealed that Maina, contrary to being a law-abiding citizen, acted as a courier and facilitator for the Boko Haram terrorist group.