COURT GIVES SEVEN DAYS TO EFCC TO RELEASE EMEFIELE.

Babatunji Wusu –

Godwin Emefiele, the troubled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), should be released from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), according to a Nigerian civil society organization.

The organization called the EFCC’s detention of Emefiele irrational and an excessive display of enthusiasm.

They then issued a seven-day ultimatum to President Bola Tinubu, directing him to either free Emefiele or bring charges against him.

During the “Free Emefiele Rally” that took place in Abuja on Thursday, Yusuf Maje, the convener of the Coalition of Civil Society for Defense of Human Rights, announced this.

As soon as Emefiele was released from the Department of State Service (DSS) on October 25, the EFCC took him into custody.

Maje responded to the news by calling Emefiele’s struggles under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration “a witch hunt.”

“We submit that his further arrest amounts to double jeopardy,” he said. The EFCC’s excessive enthusiasm and the misuse of limited government funds to put an innocent citizen through this kind of trauma only “to teach him a lesson” are unacceptable. People in the public are concerned that the EFCC, instead of being the anti-corruption organization it should be, has allowed itself to be used as a tool of oppression.

“We firmly declare that it is intolerable and will face strong opposition when Godwin Emefiele is thrown around like a football on the field by several government agencies for the sake of an investigation. Since Nigeria is no longer ruled by a military dictatorship where the rights of defenseless civilians can be arbitrarily suspended, we oppose this Gestapo-style behavior. Granted, President Tinubu is making every effort to eradicate corruption from the nation and put it back on the path of sustainable development and economic expansion with his Renewed Hope Agenda.

Finally, we hereby demand that Godwin Emefiele be charged in court or released from EFCC custody within the next seven days. The vast majority of our Coalition members will be a problem for the federal government to deal with across the nation in the rare event that this demand is not satisfied.