DSS Confirms Arrest Of Suspended CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele following his suspension by Tinubu.
Emefiele’s arrest comes on the same day that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu dismissed him from office indefinitely. According to SurgeZirc News Nigeria, the Department of State Services (DSS) has detained Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
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According to Willie Bassey, the Director of Information for the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, Emefiele was suspended “as a result of the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.”
“Mr Emefiele has been ordered to act immediately, and will immediately hand over the responsibilities of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will operate as the Central Bank Governor until the investigation and reforms are completed,” the report added.
The DSS sought to arrest Emefiele in February, but the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Lucky Irabor, sheltered him by assigning soldiers to guard his apartment and office. The DSS had stated that it has increased its investigations in order to apprehend and prosecute Emefiele on terrorism financing and fraud charges.
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It was also alleged in January that Irabor meddled in the DSS probe by providing cover for Emefiele, who had returned to the country from the United Kingdom at the time and eluded arrest. The CBN Following his return to the country, the CBN governor arrived at his office surrounded by heavy security, notably military protection.
According to a top DSS operative, the soldiers provided by the CDS thwarted the DSS officials who went to arrest Emefiele at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. “Had we not stood down our officers, there could have been a shootout between our men and the soldiers who cordoned off the area when the plane landed and escorted the CBN governor to his residence,” he added.
