Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Department of State Services (DSS) has charged the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, to court.
The CBN chief was charged after a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja gave the secret police seven days to sue or release him.
The DSS arrested the banker in June 2023 after he was asked to stay away from his office a few days earlier by President Bola Tinubu.
He was kept in the agency’s detention without trial at the court.
He challenged his continued stay in the DSS custody, and on Thursday morning, the court directed the organisation to charge him or free him within one week.
In a statement on Thursday night, the spokesman of the DSS, Mr Peter Afunanya, confirmed that Mr Emefiele’s matter had been taken to court for prosecution.
“Sequel to an Abuja High Court Order of today, July 13, 2023, the Department of State Services (DSS) hereby confirms that Mr Godwin Emefiele has been charged to Court in compliance with the order.
“The public may recall that the Service had, in 2022, applied for a court order to detain him in respect of a criminal investigation.
“Though he obtained a restraining order from an FCT High Court, the Service, however, arrested him in June 2023 on the strength of suspected fresh criminal infractions/information, one of which forms the basis for his current prosecution.
“The service assures the public of professionalism, justice and fairness in handling this matter and indeed the discharge of its duties within the confines of the law,” Mr Afunanya said.
