CSO to lawyers: Stop blackmailing DSS, allow Emefiele stand trial
The Coalition for Peace In Nigeria (COPIN), has urged individuals and groups to allow institutions of government to execute their mandates, adding that nobody should be seen as a sacred cow in the country.
The civil society organisation (CSO) said its warning comes against the backdrop of the meddlesomeness of some lawyers in relation to the case involving suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Recall that some lawyers had approached a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court to, according to them, commence committal proceedings against the Director General of the Department of State Services (DG SS), Alh. Yusuf Magaji Bichi (fwc, CFR).
In a statement signed on Tuesday by its National Coordinator, Pharm. Emeka Akwuobi, the group appealed to the general public to disregard the action of the obviously-procured lawyers, whom it described as “busy-bodies and meddlesome interlopers”.
While noting that the DSS has filed a 2-count criminal charge against the apex banker, the coalition called on all well-meaning people to allow the judicial process to take its full course.
It, therefore, advised the DSS against succumbing to any form of blackmail whatsoever, insisting that individuals, and groups suspected to have run foul of the law, should be made to answer to their alleged offences, no matter whose ox is gored.
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“We are constrained to rise in defence of the DSS and its indefatigable DG, Alh. YM Bichi, not for any pecuniary gain, but to alert the unwary public to the activities of some lawyers, which we consider to be self-serving in nature.
“As a responsible and patriotic group, we will not watch idly while some persons/groups wage needless ‘demolition campaigns’ against highly-regarded institutions and their heads, for a mess of pottage.
“We wonder why these people are calling for the release of a suspect, whom criminal charges have already been preferred against before a court of competent jurisdiction.
“Apart from the pending charge, we are aware that a court of record earlier
refused to grant an Order setting aside his arrest and detention of Emefiele by the Service;
“Further investigation revealed that the court also declined to make another order setting aside the detention order obtained by the Secret Service, as well as an Injunction restraining the Body from further arresting and detaining him.
“We note that, having regard to the expiration of the detention order on 10th July, 2023, the court had, ordered the Service to arraign the accused person within 48 hours, or release him on bail”, COPIN said in the statement.
The CSO concluded by charging Nigeria “to support security and law-enforcement agencies in the country in the discharge of their duties, in order to entrench probity and accountability in the nation’s governance process”.
