DSS Deploys Operatives To Arrest Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele On Sight – Sources
Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS), has commenced a be-on-the-lookout exercise for the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, as it has deployed its operatives and ordered them to arrest him on sight.
Two DSS officials familiar with Emefiele’s matter have confirmed that the domestic intelligence office of the DSS had deployed several officers to monitor the CBN Headquarters, Emefiele’s family residence in Lagos and the Abuja home of businessman Christopher Emefiele, unrelated by blood, according to People’s Gazette.
It was reported that a DSS officer who preferred hidden identity said the deployment came from an assistant director of the Services but the source could not immediately confirm whether or not Director-General Yusuf Bichi signed off on it.
The officer said, “We have different teams of at least two each monitoring those places. We don’t know if they have more people deployed to even more places, but we did not see any signal from the DG’s office to suggest his involvement at this point.”
Following the order, the officers were still quietly monitoring the locations as of Saturday morning.
Emefiele reportedly went out of sight after he learned of an active threat to arrest him by the DSS.
Recall that DSS unsuccessfully sought a warrant from the Federal High Court earlier this month, with a federal judge ruling that sufficient probable cause was not established for the issuance of a warrant against a sitting governor of the nation’s banker and foremost regulator of the banking sector.
The DSS in an application ex-parte, an action filed to the exclusion of its defendant, asked the court to order Emefiele’s arrest on account of terrorism financing and economic sabotage, among other nefarious acts.
However, Justice John Tsoho said he didn’t see enough evidence in the DSS’s application and bemoaned the agency’s failure to take him into confidence, saying “It therefore seems that the applicant intends to use the court as a cover for an irregular procedure, which is unacceptable.”
Learning of his disappearance from Nigeria, a group known as Concerned Citizens Of Conscience (CCC), wrote to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) demanding Emefiele’s immediate arrest and extradition to Nigeria.
The group in a letter dated 23rd December, 2022, requested Interpol to arrest and extradite Emefiele who is currently hiding in the United States of America (USA) “in his bid to abscond from facing the wrath of the law”, back to Nigeria to face prosecution.
