The drama and altercations surrounding the trial and detention of suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, are needless and could have been avoided had the Department of State Services (DSS) done its work diligently as many Nigerians expected.
Emefiele has been in DSS custody shortly after he was suspended by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The DSS had claimed that the Chief Magistrate Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had given the nod to detain Emefiele pending the conclusion of investigation. However, aggrieved by his continuous incarceration, Emefiele had dragged the Attorney General of the Federation and the DSS before Justice Adamu Muazu of the High Court of the FCT, seeking enforcement of his fundamental rights to freedom of movement and dignity of human life.
The embattled suspended CBN Governor had urged the court to void and set aside his arrest and detention, but the latter reasoned differently. Justice Muazu observed that Emefiele failed to show that his arrest and investigation were unlawful but noted that it is within his rights to get a fair hearing. The learned jurist further held that Emefiele cannot remain in detention while the DSS goes in search of evidence against him. Consequently, his lordship gave a one-week ultimatum to the DSS to charge Emefiele to court or release him.
Complying with this order, the DSS, on July 25, 2023, formally charged Emefiele to the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division, on a two-count charge of illegal possession of one single barrel firearm and live ammunition (cartridges) in contravention of the Firearms Act Cap F28 Laws of the Federation 2004. Emefiele pleaded not guilty to the allegations and was granted bail in the sum of N20 million with one surety in like sum. The court further ordered that he should be remanded in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) until he fulfills the bail conditions.
Interestingly, the offences run contrary to public expectations considering the public show put up by the DSS when seeking to arrest Emefiele last year over totally different allegations. The common concern is: why is the DSS pursuing (allegedly) lesser infractions when there are weightier matters of the law? What happened to its much-touted allegations of “financing terrorism, fraudulent activities, and economic crimes of national security dimension” against Emefiele?
Is it then conceivable that the DSS never had the will or intention to prosecute Emefiele ab initio, and that the latest charge is merely calculated to keep him incarcerated for whatever reason? Apparently, from what has played out so far, the secret service has not shown any seriousness in investigating or prosecuting Emefiele.
Nigerians are not convinced that the DSS ‘war’ against Emefiele is in the national interest but an intense game of chess between the mighty and Nigeria, with Nigerians as the pawn. It is instructive that the DSS in 2022 had applied for a court order to arrest and detain Emefiele but the application was dismissed for want of evidence to substantiate the allegations of terrorism financing, money laundering and financial misappropriation (‘previous allegations’).
Does it mean that the DSS never had concrete intelligence that Emefiele had committed these infractions before approaching the court? Or is it probable that there is sufficient evidence to nail the suspect, but the DSS (for reasons unknown) doesn’t want to lay the card on the table?
However, the DSS should be concerned about the subsisting order of Justice M.A Hassan of the High Court of the FCT restraining the DSS from arresting and detaining Emefiele over allegations of terrorism financing and fraudulent practices pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit filed by Emefiele. Until this order is set aside on appeal or the suit itself is finally dispensed with by the trial court, the DSS should operate within the ambit of the law and the court’s order. The tussle between the DSS and officers of the Correctional Centre over the custody of Emefiele, in court premises, is certainly disgraceful of law officers of the same country.
The critical question, therefore, is: what is the stage of the trial of the said substantive suit (given that it was instituted in 2022)? A matter of such gravity should be given an accelerated hearing. The court should not unintentionally become a shield to ‘actual’ wrongdoers by delaying justice. While an accused person is presumably innocent until the contrary is proved, however, justice is not a one-way stream – it is for the complainant, the accused, and the society.
The current controversy over Emefiele is a matter of public interest and as such all issues relating to the same should be speedily, albeit fairly and justly, resolved by the court.
Notwithstanding the legal constraints of the DSS on the weightier allegations, the secret police have not been professional in handling the matter so far. It is beyond embarrassing for the DSS to have made heavy weather of the previous allegations only to flop when required to provide prima facie proof of the same. Justice Hassan described the entire charge as trumped up. To the honourable jurist, the allegations were fictitious, fabricated, and a product of the vivid imagination of the DSS. His lordship arrived at this conclusion because the DSS failed woefully to place any credible evidence before him. Detaining Emefiele before (purportedly) seeking to gather evidence signposts shoddiness and incompetence on the part of the DSS. A diligent investigation should precede arrest and not the other way around!
The DSS should not portray itself as merely trying to settle whatever scores with Emefiele. So far, its conduct does not suggest that it is acting in the best interest of the nation. Otherwise, how else can the recent show of shame displayed at the Federal High Court be explained when it forcibly wrestled Emefiele from the lawful custody of the NCS.
Not only did they manhandle NCS officers. Surely, there must be more decent ways of arresting Emefiele without getting into fisticuffs with the NCS. Moreover, the DSS has not justified its detention of Emefiele for about seven weeks, failing to prosecute him for weighty offences they impressed on Nigerians that he committed about more than six months earlier.
“Prosecution is arts demanding tact; playing to the gallery is not of the qualities of successful prosecutors.” With the crass unprofessionalism being exhibited by DSS, even if there are indeed skeletons in Emefiele’s cupboard, Nigerians may never know.
It will be tragic if at the end of the day, the DSS has nothing to justify its clampdown on Emefiele. If indeed the department has a case against the banker, it is already preparing ground for Emefiele to coast home to victory on the ground of technicalities or procedural justice rather than merits and substantive justice.
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