The suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele is scheduled to make a court appearance on July 25 at the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court.
Emefiele has been detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) following allegations levelled against him. He is due to enter his plea before Justice Nicholas Oweibo.
Recall that on June 10, DSS operatives visited Emefiele’s residence in Ikoyi, Lagos, a day after his suspension as CBN governor by President Bola Tinubu.
Emefiele has been in custody since his arrest, a move that DSS insists was authorized by an Abuja Chief Magistrate Court.
However, a group of human rights lawyers, led by Maxwell Okpara and Ahmed Tijani, have criticized Emefiele’s continued detention and accuse the DSS of ignoring existing court judgments.
In response to the alleged contempt, the lawyers filed a notice of consequences of disobedience to a court order (Form 48) and a request to commit the alleged contemnor to prison (Form 49) at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.
They also called for the dismissal of DSS Director General, Mr Yusuf Bichi, after the agency referred to them as “charge and bail lawyers” and sympathizers of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Twitter.
In a two-count charge (FHC/L/437/2023), the DSS has accused Emefiele of unlawfully possessing a single-barrel shotgun (Jojeff Magnum 8371) without a license and 123 rounds of live ammunition (cartridges), both violations of the Firearms Laws of the Federation 2004.