SSS; Emefiele Now In Our Custody, Says He’s Under Investigation

The Department of State Services (DSS) has said the suspended Central Bank Governor (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, is now in custody.

Spokesman of the Service, Dr Peter Afunanya, confirmed this in a statement on Saturday afternoon.

Afunanya said: “The Department of State Services (DSS) hereby confirms that Mr Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is now in its custody for some investigative reasons.

“The public, particularly the Media, is enjoined to apply utmost caution in the reportage and narratives concerning this.”

Emefiele was suspended by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday. Reports emerged he had been arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Between Friday evening and Saturday afternoon there was uncertainty over his whereabouts.

He was reported to have been arrested in Lagos and flown to Abuja by the Service allegedly over terrorism-related allegations among other issues.

Unconfirmed reports had it he was trying to leave the country.

The Department of State Services initially kept mum over the development.

Late on Friday, Afunanya, in a WhatsApp message said: “Inundated. I may not be able to make any confirmations NOW, please.”

He did not categorically state if the suspended CBN Governor had been arrested or not.

On Saturday morning Dr Afunanya dropped another one-sentence response to the situation in a WhatsApp message.

He said: “Currently, Emefiele is not with the DSS.”

Emefiele had been accused by the DSS of offences bordering on terrorism.

SSS; Emefiele Now In Our Custody, Says He’s Under Investigation

The statement read, “The Department of State Services (DSS) hereby confirms that Mr Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is now in its custody for some investigative reasons. pic.twitter.com/k3cFT9kUpS

— The Nigeria Lawyer (@Nigerialawyers) June 10, 2023

In February, it said preliminary investigation revealed various acts of terrorism financing, fraudulent activities perpetrated by Emefiele and his involvement in economic crimes of national security dimension.

The DSS had attempted to arrest Emefiele but a Federal High Court in Maitama, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja issued an order restraining the Service from arresting him.

This ruling, delivered by Justice M.A. Hassan also applied to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who were listed as defendants.

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja declined an application filed by the DSS to arrest and detain Emefiele over the allegations against him.

In declining the motion ex parte filed by the secret police, Justice J. T. Tsoho, the Chief Judge, said the DSS did not provide any concrete evidence to substantiate its claims that Emefiele was involved in terrorism financing and economic crimes.

When Emefiele returned to Nigeria after some time away, military personnel and intelligence officers were deployed to ensure that he was not arrested by the DSS.

He had gone to his office after his return with massive security, specifically military protection.