A group of human rights lawyers and political interest groups have raised alarm over plot by the State Security Service (DSS) to frame the Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele for terrorism.
The group also demands that the Director General of the Service should be sacked immediately and prosecuted.
Addressing a joint world press conference on Monday, the Convener of the Coalition, Tochukwu Ohazuruike said that the Security agency filed a Motion in Court accusing the CBN governor of terrorism financing and other crimes it described as economic crimes of national security dimension.
The group also accused the State Service of not informing the President of the investigative report which showed them that Mr. Emefiele was a terrorist and also that they allow Mr. Emefiele to travel out of the country with the President and have unrestricted access to the President.
Challenging the veracity of the claims of the SSS the Coalition said if truly the DG SSS believed his claims, he would not have allowed Mr. Emefiele anywhere near the President but that by allowing Emefiele travel with the President, it showed the DG SSS did not believe Emefiele was indeed a terrorist and this therefore meant that the claims of the SSS in Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/2255/2022 between State Security Service and Godwin Emefiele was made with the sole purpose of forcefully and wrongfully removing the CBN Governor from office.
The groups therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney General of the Federation to set the process in motion to immediately suspend, arrest, investigate and prosecute the DG SSS Mr. Yusuf Magaji Bichi.
Meanwhile the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tosho has declined an exparte application allegedly filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest Governor Godwin Emefiele of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN over allegations of terrorism financing.
Reading out the ruling of the Chief Judge on the application, Ohazurike quoted him as saying:
“It is noted that it has been the practice of the applicant to seek the detention of a respondent from under detention for a definite time period when such a respondent is already arrested and is in their custody and that fact is clearly disclosed in the supporting affidavit. That is not the situation here.
“Godwin Emefiele, the governor of CBN was shown on television last night having audience with the President of Nigeria. It is therefore seen that the applicant wants to use this order for an irregular procedure which is unacceptable,” the judge affirmed in declining the order to arrest Governor Emefiele of the CBN.