Information reaching BRANDPOWER indicates that some media reports that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) recovered 18 Ghana-must-go bags containing money from the residence of the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele is fabricated and false.

According to sources in the Emefiele family the Department of State Services, DSS did not remove any18 bags containing currencies from the home of the suspended and detained Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele because there was no such stash of cash anywhere in Emefiele’s Abuja and Lagos homes.

A family source confirmed that the Lagos and Abuja residences of Emefiele had indeed been searched by the DSS operatives.

While they said the Abuja residence was searched on Sunday, a day after his arrest, the Lagos house was searched on Thursday evening, through Saturday morning, saying the men of the DSS left around 2 am with the embattled CBN Governor back to Abuja.

BRANDPOWER can confirm that both the Abuja and Lagos residences still had a heavy presence of the operatives as of press time

According to reliable family sources, “In Lagos, they took away his old phones, including a Blackberry, some files and office folders, as well as his old laptops. Emefiele was present when the searches were conducted,”

According to a family source, who had a firsthand account of the searches, everything the DSS retrieved from Emefiele was put in a single bag and taken away during the Lagos search.

The source said, “They only left with one small bag that was given 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 as otherwise alleged by the peddlers of fake news.”

“It was in his Abuja residence that they took away his wristwatches and N250k in cash, which they found in his bedroom”, the source added.

The source also confirmed that Emefiele was able to see his lawyers and wife, Margaret, who had tried unsuccessfully to see him since his arrest after 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.

BRANDPOWER reports that Mr Emefiele has been in DSS custody since June 10 after he was arrested on allegations of sponsoring terrorism. This is despite a subsisting court order restraining his arrest by the service.

Justice M. A. Hassan of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in December 2022 restrained the State Security Service (SSS) also known as the Department of State Services (DSS) and four others from arresting or detaining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele over alleged trumped up charges bordering on terrorism financing.

“The judge held that the DSS, “acted wrongfully and illegally in instigating President Muhammadu Buhari against Mr. Godwin Emefiele in respect of the exercise of his statutory duty relating to the issuance of monetary policies and directives in the interest of the National Security and economy.”