…Gives 7 days ultimatum
From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
A group, the Coalition of Civil Society for Defence of Human Rights, on Thursday marched to the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, asking for the immediate release of former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele.
Emefiele was arrested in June by the Department of State Services (DSS), just after President Bola Tinubu suspended him from office.
He was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on illegal possession of firearms at a Federal High Court in Lagos and granted bail in the sum of N20 million.
The two-count charge was later struck out while a fresh 20-count charge bordering on fraudulent procurement and conspiracy were brought against Emefiele.
The agency kept him in custody till late October, when it transferred him to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to continue the investigations of undisclosed corruption allegations against him.
Yusuf Maje, Chief Convener of the rally, said the continued detention of Emefiele was a violation of his legally guaranteed rights to Personal Liberty, Dignity of the Human Person and Fair Hearing.
He noted the protest tagged “the Free Emefiele Rally” was to draw attention of the National Assembly as well as the general public to the fact that something was brazenly going wrong and needed to be addressed for posterity sake.
According to him, the tossing of Godwin Emefiele like a football in the field from one government agency to another in the name of investigation was unacceptable and would be frontally resisted.
He thereby demanded that Emefiele be released from EFCC detention or charged to court within the next Seven days from Thursday.
Maje said: “ In the unlikely event that this demand is not met, then the Federal Government will have the overwhelming population of our Coalition to contend with across the country.
“We shall continue to mobilise the media, international observers and other sister Civil Society Organisations to take various actions until justice is served to Mr. Godwin Emefiele.
He noted that : “Under Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), every individual shall have the right to personal liberty and to the security of his person and no one may be deprived of his freedom except for reasons and conditions laid down by law.
“Judging from the action of the high powers that be in government, there is manifest infringement of Mr Godwin Emefiele’s right to personal liberty, without any form of justification.
“We note that Emefiele is not kept in detention because he is already convicted of a criminal offence and is serving a jail term in respect thereof. Also, he was not detained for four months by DSS and transferred to the EFCC on 26 October 2023 for purpose of being brought before a court of competent jurisdiction.
Maje said rather, his detention smacks of nothing but witch-hunt, adding that his further arrest amounts to double jeopardy.
Maje called President Tinubu to rise up to the occasion and prove himself as a true democrat that he had been, which endeared him to many Nigerians before, during and after the 2023 General Elections.