Tag: DSS

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Court Fixes Aug 15 To Hear Case On Emefiele’s Detention

The Federal High Court has fixed August 15 to hear applications regarding the custody of Godwin Emefiele the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The presiding judge, Nicholas Oweibo on Thursday adjourned the hearing of the applications filed by the federal government and counsels to Emefiele.

Emefiele on the 25th of July was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on “illegal possession” of firearms at a federal high court in Ikoyi and was granted bail in the sum of N20 million.

The Judge in his ruling ordered that Emefiele be kept in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) pending the fulfillment of his bail conditions.

However, the Department of State Services (DSS) insisted that Emefiele must return to its custody.

The development led to a face-off between the secret police and prison officials. After the face-off, DSS rearrested Emefiele on the court premises.

The Secret Service proceeded to file an application before a high court of the federal capital territory seeking to further detain Emefiele.

The application was struck out after it was withdrawn by the service over jurisdictional concerns.

The Federal Government on the 3rd of August filed an application before the federal high court in Lagos, seeking leave to appeal the order granting bail to Emefiele.

In the application filed by a deputy director of public prosecutions of the federation, Nkiru Jones-Nebo, the federal government also sought a stay of execution of the order remanding Emefiele in the custody of the NCoS.

The federal government wants the court to remand Emefiele in the custody of the DSS.

In the application filed by Emefiele’s counsels, they asked the court to restrain the federal government from further prosecuting their client.

They said the federal government is in “brazen disobedience” of the subsisting orders of the court granting Emefiele bail on July 25.

During proceedings on Thursday, K.A. Fagbemi, the prosecuting counsel, asked the court to hear the federal government’s application seeking a stay of execution of the court order on Emefiele’s bail.

Fagbemi said the federal government filed its application first and served it on the defence counsels on August 4.

The counsel to Emefiele, Victor Opara in his response said priority should not be given to the federal government based on the time of filing since the court order was disobeyed.

Opara argued that the applications of both parties should be entertained on the same day.

He added that the federal government has nothing to lose since the defendant is in its custody.

After listening to both arguments, the judge ruled that the applications filed by both parties will be heard on August 15.

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DSS Ignores Court Order, Returns Emefiele to Custody

The Department of State Services, has ignored an order of a court and returned the suspended governor of the Central Bank, CBN, Godwin Emefiele to custody, according to Punch.
The order by the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had granted Emefiele bail.
The court had earlier granted bail to Emefiele after he pleaded not guilty to the two counts charge bordering on the alleged illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo who granted the bail, ordered that Emefiele be remanded in prison until he fulfils his bail conditions.
However, officials of the secret police and their counterparts in the Nigerian Correctional Services were engaged in a physical fight over who would move Emefiele from the court.
A few minutes ago, officials of the DSS succeeded in taking the suspended governor of the apex bank away from the court.
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Emefiele: DSS Arrests Ikoyi Prison Boss On Court Premises

There was drama on Tuesday as operatives of Department of State Services arrested a top official of Ikoyi Prisons.
The incident happened at the premises of Federal High Court in Lagos State.
The arrest may not be unconnected with the tussle for who keeps custody of the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
The Ikoyi prison official who was rough-handled and shuffled into the DSS vehicle was later released by the secret service operatives.
The PUNCH earlier reported that a mild drama played out at the Federal High Court, Lagos State, between DSS operatives and officials of Nigeria Correctional Service as they tussled over who keeps custody of Emefiele.
Emefiele was arraigned by the Federal Ministry of Justice for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition but was granted bail in the sum of N20m with one surety, following his “not guilty” plea.
As the defendant’s lawyers were trying to perfect his bail conditions, a mild drama played out within the court premises between DSS operatives who are fully hooded and NCS over who will take custody of the embattled CBN boss.
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Why I Suspended CBN Governor, Emefiele – President Tinubu Addresses Nigerians In France

Nigeria’s number one man, President Bola Tinubu has talked about why he suspended Godwin Emefiele as the Central Bank Governor.

Tinubu says Emefiele was suspended because of how he messed up the financial system of the country.

The president had on June 9, suspended Emefiele to allow for investigation into some allegations levelled against him concerning his activities as the CBN governor.

President Tinubu who broke silence on the arrest and detention of Emefiele on Friday, during an interactive session with Nigerians residing in France and neighbouring countries, said the financial system was rotten under Emefiele.

He said “Then the financial system was rotten. Few people made bags of money and then you yourself, you stopped sending money home to our poor parents. Several windows. But that is gone now. It’s gone.

“The man is in the hands of the authorities. Something is being done about that. They will sort themselves out.”

SaharaReporters had also reported that the suspended Central Bank Gov., Emefiele was arrested by the Nigeria’s secret Police, the Department of State Services (DSS) for alleged economic crimes, sabotage, incitement to violence, stealing of public funds among others.

The DSS in an affidavit of facts presented in court while seeking an order of court to detained Emefiele had listed these reasons for arresting him.

It said Emefiele was arrested “upon reasonable suspicion of committing acts which constitute a criminal breach of trust, incitement to violence, criminal misappropriation of public funds, economic sabotage, economic crimes of national security dimension and undermining the security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, the DSS and the Office of Attorney General of the Federation (OAGF) on Tuesday asked the Federal Capital Territory High Court not to grant bail to the suspended governor of the apex bank.

They argued that the suspended governor of the apex bank would flee the country if granted bail.

The DSS and the OAGF described Emefiele who is challenging his detention by the secret police as a “flight risk.”

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Bawa: How DSS Officials Secretly Raided EFCC Headquarters

It has been revealed that the Department of State Services (DSS) secretly raided the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to Sahara Reporters, the raid took place on Friday night and lasted till Saturday.
Recall that the DSS had some weeks ago, stormed the Lagos office of the EFCC, preventing officials of the anti-graft agency from gaining access to their office in Ikoyi.
SaharaReporters learnt from top sources in both agencies that over 500 EFCC officials were locked out from resuming work due to office ownership disagreements.
“The EFCC officers are shocked; they have been using the building for more than 20 years. Several suspects are there and there are fears that some might have been illegally released,” a top source had said.
According to SaharaReporters, the raid was executed at night to prevent public knowledge of what is going on.
Similarly, it was also learnt that the staff of EFCC were instructed not to mention anything concerning the raid to the public.
But an insider, revealed that the DSS is working for a particular interest very important to President Bola Tinubu beyond what the public is made to believe.
But another source said it may be linked to the recent closure of the EFCC office in Ikoyi, Lagos by the DSS.
The source said.“I heard the raid and partisanship of the DSS was the reason why they raised an alarm yesterday (Saturday) that some of their disgruntled officers are planning to shame the agency and embarrass the leadership.
 
“That is actually intimidation, symptomatic of what former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami did during Ibrahim Magu’s time as EFCC chairman to get several suspects off the hook,”
Meanwhile, it was also gathered that investigators handling the case of former Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle are to be summoned by the DSS for interrogation.
It was revealed that Matawalle was being investigated by the commission in two separate cases. One of them is a case involving his private company which got money from the National Security Adviser’s office without executing the contract, which was investigated under the chairmanship of Magu. The other case involves the alleged fraud committed by Matawalle while in office.
But sources close to the President said Tinubu is aware of moves by the former governor to stop the anti-corruption body from probing him, which includes obtaining court orders to restrain the commission and other agencies from carrying out their investigations.
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DSS Seizes Emefiele’s Passport, Plans Home, Office Search

The passport of the suspended Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has been confiscated by the Department of State Services, The PUNCH reports.

The service, it was also learnt, may search Emefiele’s home and office this week.

Following his suspension on Friday as a result of the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector, the service arrested Emefiele in Lagos and flew him to Abuja in a private jet on Saturday.

The spokesperson for the service, Peter Afunanya, in a statement said Emefiele had been taken into custody and was under investigation.

However, a source in the DSS  on Sunday said it was standard procedure for his travel document to be seized pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation.

The source added that the office and residence of the suspended apex bank governor would be searched.

The source said, “Of course, Emefiele’s travel document would be confiscated as part of the standard process pending the conclusion of our investigation. Also, as part of the investigation, his house and office would be searched for documents that can aid the ongoing investigation on his management of the CBN.”

The spokesperson for the service, Peter Afunanya, in a statement said Emefiele had been taken into custody and was under investigation.

However, a source in the DSS  on Sunday said it was standard procedure for his travel document to be seized pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation.

The source added that the office and residence of the suspended apex bank governor would be searched.

The source said, “Of course, Emefiele’s travel document would be confiscated as part of the standard process pending the conclusion of our investigation. Also, as part of the investigation, his house and office would be searched for documents that can aid the ongoing investigation on his management of the CBN.”

Our correspondent had reported that other top directors of the CBN might also be invited or arrested for questioning over their roles in the administration of the apex bank.

It was learnt that the DSS might revisit the criminal charges it earlier filed against Emefiele which borders on terrorism financing and fraud.

The secret police similarly accused the suspended CBN box of mismanaging the CBN subsidiary, Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending and the Anchor Borrowers Programme.

The DSS spokesman, Afunanya, could not be reached for comment on Sunday as calls to his line indicated that he was unreachable.

He had yet to respond to a text message on the detention of Emefiele as of the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN,  has said the DSS  lacked constitutional power to investigate and prosecute  Emefiele.

Falana in a message sent to one of our correspondents said Emefiele should be transferred to the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission who according to him, posses the legal right to prosecute Emefiele.

“A few months ago, the State Security Service levelled grave allegations of terrorism financing, money laundering, and other economic crimes against Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. At the material time, the attempt by the SSS to arrest, investigate, and prosecute Mr. Emefiele was frustrated by the erstwhile Buhari administration.

“However, following the suspension of Mr. Emefiele as the Governor of the CBN by President Bola Tinubu, the SSS quizzed him in Lagos and flew him to Abuja yesterday. According to media reports, the investigation of the suspect by the SSS has commenced. Even though the SSS which initially denied the arrest has since turned around to admit that Mr. Emefiele is in its custody.

“In the case of Dr. Bukola SarakI v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2018) 16 NWLR (pt. 1646) 433-434, the Supreme Court ruled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission lacks the vires to investigate and prosecute the appellant for the breach of the provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act. It was for that principal reason that Senator Saraki was freed by the apex court.

“In line with the principle of law enunciated by the apex court in Saraki’s case the SSS lacks the power to investigate and prosecute Mr. Emefiele in respect of allegations of money laundering and other economic crimes. Therefore, after investigating the alleged involvement of Emefiele in terrorism financing the SSS should transfer him to the EFCC for the purpose of investigating

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Doyin Okupe is arrested by the DSS in Lagos.

Doyin Okupe, a former director-general of Peter Obi’s Labour Party (LP), has been arrested by Department of State Service operatives (DSS).

One of the lawyers, of Doyin Okupe, Tolu Babaleye disclosed that he was arrested at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Thursday.

Doyin Okupe was arrested by the Department of State Service while on his way to London for medical treatment, according to his lawyer, Tolu Babaleye.

According to a statement issued by Lawyer Tolu Babaleye, the politician was asked to provide evidence demonstrating that the Federal High Court in Abuja cleared him of all charges in the money laundering case for which he was recently convicted and given the option of paying a fine.

He wrote: “The information reaching me now is that Dr. Doyin Okupe has been arrested at Lagos Airport by the DSS on his way to London.

“The reason according to the source is that he was asked to produce evidence that the Federal High Court Abuja has freed him from the case in which he was convicted and paid a fine to the knowledge of the whole world and was allowed to go home.

“When will this harassment stop? Who is after Dr. Doyin Okupe? As of today, the man has no case to answer anywhere, I hereby demand that the DSS should release my Client immediately as it is a violation of his freedom of movement, right to liberty, and dignity as a human person.

“This is unfair as the man’s health is fast failing!”