DSS Denies Refusing Emefiele Access to Family, Lawyers

The Department of State Services (DSS) has said that it has never denied the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, access to his family and lawyers.

Spokesman of the agency, Dr Peter Afunanya, in an article on Tuesday titled: “The DSS operates within its mandate” said the celebration of the news of a court order to allow Emefiele’s lawyers and family access to him was quite unnecessary.

“He was never denied access. Ever since he was taken into custody, his family has continually accessed him. Same with medical officials. The impression that the service is going to act on the prompting of the Court is not correct,” Afunanya said.

Afunanya, who alleged a media ambush against the service, called out some newspaper houses for their editorials pertaining to the service recently, which he referred to as “hatchet job.”

“It did not seem that the editorials which sought the reforms of the DSS or to criticise it for its public statements or actions on various subject-matters of national security concern were, by any means, an accident or a coincidence. It looked every inch planted or organised. It is a hatchet job or so it seemed. The judgement that the service is excessively public or ubiquitous missed the point. The papers manifested predictable bias and patterns,” he said.

According to him, considering the warped mentality that triggered write-ups in the media against the service, it will be unsurprising to witness “an upsurge in malicious articles, criticisms and baseless attacks in the public space, following the investigations of Messrs Godwin Emefiele and Abdulrasheed Bawa among other flimsy matters.”

He said certain groups and people would come up with frivolous allegations against the service and its leadership.

“These entities may also exploit unpatriotic members of the service to spread falsehoods, propaganda and hate in order to project the organisation in a bad light. Given their reach and war chest to mobilise forces against government and its key officials, the adversaries may intend to cause distractions to the on-going investigations as directed by the C-in-C. However, the service will not depose its professionalism for cheap backlash nor discharge its duty with prejudice or fear,” Afunaya said.

He said the DSS would remain unshaken and professional in carrying out its duties.

“It recommits to diligently operate, as always, within the confines of the law and to uphold the fundamental rights of all Nigerians. The media must, as the fifth estate of the realm, remain balanced, accurate, impartial and accountable. To sustain a deliberate misguidance of the public with any form of misconceptions is detrimental to nationhood. Therefore, to deepen the expected contributions, seeking veracity is not only ethical, but obligatory. That should not be asking for too much,” Afunanya said.

CC: The Nation Online