The Lagos and Abuja residences of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, have been searched by officers of the Directorate of State Services, (DSS).
A family source of the detained technocrat, who asked not to be identified, spoke to THEWILL on Sunday and confirmed the searches.
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The source 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 have 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 told THEWILL.
The source confirmed that Mr Emefiele is 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 is a fundamental constitutional right of the detainee.
The DSS says it is investigating Emefiele over his conduct during his tenure as Governor of the CBN.