Emefiele hasn’t visited Nigeria, he ought to be detained upon arrival – Falana

Femi Falana, a human rights attorney and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, claims that Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has not arrived back in the nation as a result of accusations of supporting terrorism made against him by the Department of State Services (DSS).

“I can say without any fear of contradiction that Mr. Godwin Emefiele is not in Nigeria; he hasn’t returned to the country because he has been declared wanted by the state security services,”

The DSS had attempted to have Emefiele detained in an Abuja court for allegedly financing terrorism and committing economic crimes against national security, but Justice Maryam Hassan of the Federal Capital Territory High Court Abuja blocked the DSS’s action.

The judgment then prohibited the DSS from holding, inviting, or arresting Emefiele, describing the DSS’s accusations of terrorism against the CBN governor as vengeful, heartless, tyrannical, null, and of no force or effect.

Falana, however, asserted on Sunday that if the DSS has substantial evidence against the CBN governor, it need not obtain a court warrant before making an arrest. Upon Emefiele’s arrival in Nigeria, he urged the DSS to proceed with his arrest, pointing out that the head of the central bank is not among those who are legally entitled to immunity in Nigeria.

The DSS’s accusations against Emefiele, according to Falana, are embarrassing and can only occur in a country like the Banana Republic, where the governor of the top bank gets charged with a serious crime like funding terrorism.

“Has the government considered the enormous implication of the effect of a wanted governor of the central bank on the economy?

“I am completely flabbergasted that the President of the country has not intervened; either to call the state security to order or to call Mr. Emefiele to return to the country or be fired,” the senior lawyer said.