Reactions trail DSS firearm charges against Emefiele

The charges against the suspended governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emiefele bordering on the illegal possession of firearms have attracted numerous reactions from Nigerians including legal practitioners, human rights activists and financial analysts.

While some have raised concerns over the role of the Department of State Services in the detention of the suspended governor over illegal possession of guns, others have urged the government to ensure that the rule of law is upheld on the matter.

The Federal Government had filed two charges of illegal possession of firearms against Emiefele before the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The government is charging Emiefele for being in possession of a single barrel shotgun and 123) Rounds of live ammunition (Cartridges) without a licence, according to the charge sheet seen by Businessday.

The government says the offence is punishable under Firearms Act, Cap. F28 Laws of the Federation 2004.

Count one of the charges reads: “That you, Godwin Emefiele, Male, of No. 8 Colorado Street Maitama Abuja, on or about the 15th of June 2023, at No. 3b Iru Close, Ikoyi, Eti Osa Local Government, Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession one (1) Single Barrel shotgun (JOJEFF MAGNUM 8371) without a licence. You thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 4 of the Firearms Act, Cap. F28 Laws of the Federation 2004, and punishable under Section 27 (1b) of the same Act.

Count two reads: “That you, Godwin Emefiele, Male, of No. 8 Colorado Street Maitama Abuja, on or about June 15, 2023, at No. 3b Iru Close, Ikoyi, Eti Osa Local Government, Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession One Hundred and Twenty-Three (123) Rounds of live ammunition (Cartridges) without a licence You thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8 of the Firearms Act Cap F28 Laws of the Federation 2004 and punishable under Section 27 (1)(b)(il) of the same Act.”

Emifele, after he was suspended by president Bola Tinubu had been in the custody of the DSS since June 10.

On Thursday, July 13, the DSS announced that the supended governor, has been charged to court in compliance with an Abuja High Court Order on Thursday July, 13 which ordered the DSS to charge Emefiele to court if they have criminal allegations against him, or release him on bail if he is not taken to a competent court within one week.

Commenting on the detention and charges against Emiefele, Inibehe Effiong, a Lagos-based human rights lawyer condemned the detention of Emiefele for over 30 days over illegal possession of firearms.

He described the situation as “extremely ridiculous”, explaining that such offence should have been charged within 24 hours.

He also stated that matters bordering on illegal possession of firearms is not within the mandate of the DSS but the police.

According to him, “If you are keeping somebody in custody for over 30 days and the reason for detaining the person is possession of firearms, it shows that the agency is not serious, it shows that the government is not serious, it shows that they have taken Nigerians for a fool. Because what they said was on the insinuation that Emefiele was being detained for alleged terrorism financing, now, if you are now charging him for illegal possession of firearms and this is was a charge that came about after his house was invaded, then it means that they are telling us that before his house was searched, they had no reason to have arrested him.”

“Why is it the DSS that is now the one investigating the case of physical possession of firearms. That is suppose to be within the jurisdiction of the police because it does not necessarily affect the internal security of the country, which is what the DSS is statutorily empowered by the National Security Agencies Act to do”, he queried.

The lawyer further opined that the intention of the government is not necessarily to punish Emiefele for the said infractions but to prosecute him and to punish him for standing against the candidacy of Tinubu and APC.

“This is what we have been saying about this agency that it is now a political tool in the hand of occupants of Aso Rock and it makes nonsense of the entire case. We have said that you cannot prosecute Emefiele for the naira redesign policy which Tinubu was vehemently against because it is a policy of government approved by government and so whether that policy is successfully implemented or not is not a crime. I think time has come for Nigerians to be told what is actually the mandate of the DSS. Illegal possession of firearms is a matter that the police should handle and not DSS”,he said.

Also commenting, Kelvin Emmanuel, a financial analyst and Chief Executive Officer, Dairy Hills Limited said the matter must be treated with independence in line with section 36 of the Constitution which says ‘’A person shall be entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by the court or other tribunal established by law and constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality.”

According to him, the rule of law is one of the most important metric foreign investors use as a tool to measure the ease of doing business, and grounds for which to deploy capital into a country.

“The Government needs to understand that every single thing it does is a signal to international investors on how issues on ‘’fair hearing’’, ‘’fundamental human rights’’, ‘’equality before the law’’ and ‘’independence of the judiciary’’ is situated”, he said.

In his opinion, Jones Akpan, a Human Rights activist said the authorized agency to issue approval for gun license should be in the position to sanction those who have not been issued license.

According to him, the security agencies would have concluded their investigation before arrest. ” Initially it was terrorism charge, but now illegal possession of firearms. If Emefiele has breached extant laws, let him have his day in the court. That is the essence of rule of law”, he said.

Kingdom Okere, a lawyer and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria as well as the Convener, Lawyers in Defence of Democracy recalled a perpetual injunction granted by M.A Hassan of an Abuja Federal High Court in December 2022, restraining the DSS from arresting and proffering any charges against Emefiele which still subsists.

According to him, the DSS participated in that court proceeding and until that order is set aside, the arrest, detention and charges by the state secret security agency against the former CBN Governor remains illegal ab-initio.

“That is our position and it remains so because we operate in a country where there is rule of law, where everyone including the DSS should be subject to the law.

“Again, it is unfortunate that between the 7th December 2022 that the DSS filed an exparte application before the FCT high court against Emefiele till June 2023 when he was arrested, they did not have enough evidence to charge him until the court compelled them a few days ago,” he stressed.

He also noted that whatever decisions Emefiele took as the CBN Governor had a presidential approval and as such punishing in isolation without questioning former President Buhari would be most unfair.

Okere further urged President Bola Tinubu, who he acknowledged as a firm believer in rule of law to call the DSS to order and not allow the agency tarnish the reputation which he, over the years, had built for himself in this regard.