In a recent development, the Department of State Services (DSS) has mentioned that Maxwell Okpara, a lawyer associated with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is defending Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The DSS made this statement on Tuesday when Okpara filed contempt charges against DSS Director-General Yusuf Bichi, in response to Emefiele’s prolonged detention.
The DSS took to Twitter to refer to the lawyers who filed the charges against Bichi as “overzealous and uninformed IPOB/ESN lawyer(s).” They also labeled Okpara as a “charge-and-bail lawyer.” The DSS expressed their view that these efforts were futile and seemed to imply that they were driven by transferred aggression and bad faith.
Interestingly, the DSS questioned the connection between an advocate for the Biafran Republic and a lawyer representing the suspended CBN Governor, suggesting that there might be more to the situation than meets the eye. They called for Maxwell Okpara to be educated on legal matters.
The backdrop to this incident is a group of lawyers filing a contempt charge against Bichi due to the DSS’s refusal to release Emefiele, despite several court judgments and orders demanding his release.
