Emefiele now in our custody – DSS
By Emma Ogbuehi
After the initial controversies surrounding the whereabouts of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, the Department of State Services (DSS) has revealed that he is now in its custody.
The Punch reports that the new turn of events comes hours after the Service initially denied arresting the erstwhile CBN governor. DSS had on Saturday said that the suspended CBN governor was not in its custody. The agency made this known via Twitter.
The tweet read, “Currently, Emefiele is not with the DSS.”
President Bola Tinubu had on Friday night suspended Emefiele from his role at the apex bank and ordered him to handover the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will act as the CBN governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms.
READ ALSO:
Emefiele not in our custody — DSS
A statement by the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Willie Bassey had announced the suspension which took immediate effect.
Bassey added that Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate) pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms.
Last December, DSS sought an ex parte order from the Federal High Court in Abuja to arrest Emefiele over allegations of “acts of financing terrorism, fraudulent activities and economic crimes of national security dimension.”
But Justice J. T. Tsoho declined to grant the application.
The judge said, “In the light of the foregoing reasons, I decline to grant this application ex-parte. If the applicant believes that the evidence available to it so far is sufficient, then it can as well arrest and detain the applicant, even without the order of the court. If however the applicant desires to still pursue this application, then it should place the respondent on notice considering the sensitive public office that he occupies.”
Before the DSS admitted holding Emefiele, an online portal, Sahara Reporters, had reported details of his arrest by the service.
