Emefiele not held for terrorism related crimes – OAGF

June 21, (THEWILL) – The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (OAGF) has dismissed speculation that the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, was being held for terrorist-related crimes.

President Bola Tinubu, on Friday, June 9, approved the suspension of Emefiele as Governor of the apex bank over “an ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the Nigerian economy.”

Emefiele, who was subsequently arrested, has been in the custody of the Directorate of State Services (DSS).

Following his detention, Emefiele, in an originating motion filed through his lawyer at a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama District, Abuja, is seeking enforcement of his freedom to liberty and movement, as there is no basis for his continuous detention

According to his lawyer, J.B. Daudu (SAN), the arrest and detention of Emefiele was political and not unconnected to the naira redesign policy, which was the initiative of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

However, in a counter-affidavit filed against the bail application by Emefiele before the court, the OAGF countered the insinuation that Emefiele’s arrest and detention is political or related to the naira redesign policy.

It clarified that “Issues of terrorism financing and fraudulent activities are not part of the grounds for the arrest and detention of the applicant.”

While objecting to his bail application on Tuesday, the OAGF said, “The respondents have not violated the applicant’s right to live in any way; his life is not in danger. The respondents did not subject the applicant to any judicial adjudication to warrant the allegation of denial of a fair hearing.

“With the remand order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, the said violation of the applicant’s right to freedom of movement does not arise.”

On its part, the Department of State Services (DSS) said Emefiele was arrested “upon reasonable suspicion of committing acts, which constitute criminal breach of trust, incitement to violence, criminal misappropriation of public fund, economic sabotage, economic crimes of national security dimension and undermining the security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The counter-affidavit by the service reads: “Upon the arrest of the applicant, a detention order was duly and promptly procured from a court of competent jurisdiction to enable the 2nd and 3rd respondents to keep the applicant in lawful custody for a period of 14 days when it became apparent that investigation into the allegations levelled against him would take a little while to conclude.

“Also, the arrest of the applicant is not in connection with his financial or monetary policies, including the recent re-design of the naira, which was approved by His Excellency, the former president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The applicant is still being investigated and as soon as the investigation is completed, the applicant will be immediately charged to court where necessary.

“The applicant has enormous resources at his disposal and can easily interfere with an ongoing investigation and even evade subsequent arrest if released on bail.

“The applicant is a flight risk and there is credible intelligence that he is making a frantic effort to flee the country if released prematurely on bail.

“The investigation has assumed a wider dimension and other collaborators fingered in the course of the investigation are at large and ought to be traced and arrested to enable a successful prosecution.

“Any attempt to grant the applicant bail at this stage of the investigation may interfere with other exhibits yet to be collected and jeopardize ongoing investigation in the matter.

“The activities of the applicant constitute a potent threat to national security and cohesion of the Nigeria state.

“The applicant instituted this suit with the sole aim of preventing the 2nd and 3rd respondents from discharging their statutory mandate by seeking to use this court to fetter the hands of the 2nd and 3rd respondents in the ongoing security investigation.”