In an apparent riposte to reports that the Department of State Services, DSS, removed 18 bags containing currencies and documents from the homes of suspended and detained Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, a family source said said the operatives did not remove 18 bags of money.
The source confirmed that the Lagos and Abuja residences of Emefiele had been searched by the DSS operatives.
The source, quoted by THEWILL, said the Abuja residence was searched on Sunday, a day after his arrest, while the Lagos house was searched on Thursday evening, through Saturday morning, saying the men of the DSS left around 2 am with their detainee back to Abuja.
The source said both the Abuja and Lagos residences still had a heavy presence of the operatives.
“In Lagos, they took away his old phones, including a Blackberry, some files and office folders, as well as his old laptops. Godwin was present when the searches were conducted,” the source said.
The family source, who had a firsthand account of the searches, said everything the DSS wanted was put in a Ghana-Must-Go bag and taken away during the Lagos search.
“They only left with one small Ghana-Must-Go bag that we gave to them to put the things they wanted to take away. They did not see nor take away money as there was no significant sum in his room or house.
“It was in his Abuja residence that they took away his wristwatches and N250k in cash, which they found in his bedroom”, the source was quoted to have said
The source confirmed that Mr Emefiele was now able to see his lawyers and wife, Margaret, who had tried unsuccessfully to see him since his arrest, until Justice Hamza Muazu of the FCT High Court, last Friday, ordered the DSS to immediately provide him unrestricted access to his family and lawyers, saying it was a fundamental constitutional right of the detainee.
The DSS during the week searched the office of Mr. Emefiele at the headquarters of the bank in Abuja, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the development.
The DSS said it was investigating Emefiele over his conduct during his tenure as Governor of the CBN.
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