HOW EMEFIELE LOST HIS DEPOSITS

By: Adedeji Fagbemi

The arraignment of the former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, at a Federal High Court in Lagos on 25th July, 2023 by the Department of State Services (DSS) over illegal possession of firearms cannot be forgotten in a hurry. Aside being a celebrated case, the drama that ensued between the DSS operatives and officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) within the Court premises after the defendant was granted bail in the sum of #20 million by Justice Nicholas Oweibo lingers on in the mind of every Nigerian.

I was one of those that hurriedly castigated the DSS for such rather ignoble display of disrespect for the temple of justice. Many termed it flagrant disobedience of the Court order when the DSS operatives insisted on taking custody of Emefiele after the Court had ruled otherwise, granting the custody to the NCS.

I later got to know that, the DSS has the legal cover to commence fresh investigation of a remanded defendant. Also, the attempt by the officials of the NCS to take the defendant to custody from the Court has been faulted. It would have been legally and morally right for the DSS to take custody of the defendant whom could have been taken to the NCS by the DSS as the Court ordered. The brazen overzealousness of the NCS officer who wanted to take custody of the defendant left much to be desired.

However, it came to me as a rude shock when I began to get some revelations into what made the DSS act the way it did. There is a saying that, he who wants to catch a monkey must act like one. It was revealed that the former CBN Governor had parted with huge sum of money while the beneficiaries included the Judge that heard his bail application and the NCS. The arrangement was that Emefiele would be granted bail by the Judge and the NCS be given his custody until he was able to meet the bail conditions.

The big plan was that the NCS officials would be intercepted while on transit with Emefiele from the Court by unknown gunmen during which he would be whisked away to Benin Republic. From there, he would escape to one of the overseas countries. The incident which was to be staged never happened as the DSS got wind of the entire plan, reason its operatives stood their ground on taking the custody of the embattled former CBN Governor. This captures the situation that, there was more to the screaming headline of the drama that ensued between the DSS operatives and the prison officials on 25th July, 2023.

If the above is anything to go by, it therefore means many sins are hanging on the neck of the former CBN Governor. Nigerians cannot quickly forget the harrowing hardships they were subjected to by the new Naira and cashless policy introduced by Emefiele towards the last general elections. While some lost their businesses to the strangulating policy, others paid the supreme price of losing their lives.

Nigeria is one big jungle, the big dogs eat the small dogs.