Some aggrieved Nigerian lawyers have initiated contempt proceedings against the Department of State Services (DSS) and its Director General (DG), Yusuf Bichi at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday for allegedly flouting a number of court orders on the release of detained former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
The lawyers contend that by the subsisting judgments and orders given in separate cases by Justices M. A. Hassan, Hamza Muazu and Bello Kawu (all of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory), the DG DSS ought to have directed Emefiele’s release from detention.
Maxwell Opara and Ahmed Tijani filed Forms 48 and 49 which they said constitute the initial processes in committal proceedings.
In a contempt proceedings form, the lawyers stated that Justice Hassan, in his judgment, restrained the respondents in that suit, particularly, the DSS from arresting, detaining, or interrogating Emefiele in respect of offences relating to terrorism financing, money laundering, round tripping, financial crimes of national security dimension, among others.
According to them, in spite “of the clear and positive orders of Justice Hassan, the State Security Service still went ahead to arrest and detain Mr. Emefiele and has so detained him for well over a month, while shopping for evidence which does not exist.”
Opara assured that his group of lawyers “will pursue the matter to its logical conclusion and ensure that the DSS DG is Bichi is sent to prison.”
In his words, such development will serve as a deterrent against contempt of court and gross abuse by security agencies and top government officials, adding that personal vendetta will no longer be tolerated.
He urged President Bola Tinubu to sack the DSS DG for allegedly misleading the President to think that Emefiele committed heinous crimes against the state.
“Is it not now clear enough to Nigerians that that the SSS is persecuting Mr. Emefiele if after holding him for five weeks they can only file a ridiculous charge of possessing a validly registered pump action gun?”
“If possessing a validly registered pump action gun is a crime worthy of being held in perpetuity, what has the SSS done to the person threatening Nigerians from a particular section of the country with an assault rifle?
“This clearly shows that the travail of Mr. Emefiele is more for political reasons than for any other,” Opara said.