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A group of human rights attorneys filed a contempt complaint against Yusuf Bichi, director general of the State Security Service, for allegedly disobeying numerous court orders directing the release of suspended Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele from agency custody.

They have filed a contempt case in an effort to imprison the DSS director in accordance with the law’s guidelines for disobeying a legitimate court order.

Form 48, which notifies people of the repercussions of disobeying a court order, and Form 49, which asks the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja to commit a suspected contravenor to prison, were both submitted on Monday.

Maxwell Opara and Barrister Abdulazeez Tijani, two legal professionals, pleaded with the court to jail the DSS DG till he absolves himself of the contempt.

The State Security Service was specifically prohibited by Justice M. A. Hassan from arresting, detaining, or questioning Emefiele for offenses related to financing terrorism, money laundering, round-tripping, financial crimes of national security dimension, among other offenses, according to the lawyers’ affidavit in support of the application.

They claimed that the State Security Service had continued to arrest and hold Emefiele “for well over a month while shopping for evidence” against the obvious and affirmative directions of Justice Hassan.

Maxwell Opara, speaking about the court’s ruling, said the group will pursue the matter to its logical conclusion to serve as a warning to other heads of security agencies and high-ranking government officials that gross abuse of office for personal vengeance and contempt of court will no longer be tolerated.

He asked, “Is it not clear enough to Nigerians that the SSS is persecuting Emefiele if after holding him for 5 weeks they can only file a ridiculous charge of possessing a pump action gun?”

“If possessing a validly registered pump action gun is a crime worthy of being held in perpetuity, what has the SSS done to the person threatening Nigerians from a particular section of the country with an assault rifle? This clearly shows the travails of Emefiele are more for political reasons than for any other.”

“Assuming there was no valid court order, since the DSS had been unable to find any evidence against Emefiele, he was entitled to his release and how much more now that three different courts have ordered his release, the SSS is still holding him in unlawful detention and violating all his rights, hence the reason why we will ensure Yusuf Magaji Bichi ends up being committed to prison.”

He pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to immediately remove Bichi from his position as DG SSS because he is accused of deceiving the President into believing that Emefiele had committed heinous crimes against the State before going on to accuse Emefiele of illegally possessing firearms.

The management of London Line Transport Company Limited has filed a petition with Benue State Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia regarding an alleged invasion of its premises by the state’s Assets Recovery Committee, which was formed to reclaim state properties that the immediately preceding governor, Samuel Ortom, is believed to have taken.

Last Tuesday, the asset recovery committee, led by Hinga Biem, raided what was allegedly Ortom’s auto shop in Markurdi and tow away 32 high-end vehicles.

Prior to Ortom’s resignation, the administration claimed that he had taken 29 state-owned vehicles without authorization.

The 32 automobiles seized by the asset recovery commission, according to Ortom’s assistant Terver Akase, do not belong to the former governor.

The Chief Executive Officer of London Line Transport Company Limited, Emmanual Viashima, petitioned the governor on July 14 to claim ownership of the seized cars and seek N5 billion in damages for what he claimed was a forcible invasion of his property.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the National Human Rights Commission, the Inspector General of Police, the Benue State Police Commissioner, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Assets Recovery Committee, and the Tor Tiv were all copied on the appeal.

The committee members, according to Viashima, bullied his employees who, he claimed, had begun recording the incursion and took some of their phones, which were eventually given back.

As he identified the owners of the seized automobiles, including Ortom and his wife, Eunice, a traditional ruler, and some of the former governor’s aides, he asserted that none of the vehicles hauled from the workshop belonged to the former governor.

Varshima bemoaned the committee’s terrible destruction of his wife’s Lexus 250 while hauling it away.

He said, “Upon being informed of the development, I rushed to the scene to make sense out of the entire chaotic scenario and to my utter disbelief, I was locked out of the premises and refused entry.

“At the moment, the company is already experiencing immediate consequences and direct fallout of the negative publicity as a result of the invasion.

“Contrary to claims by the Assets Recovery Committee that 30 vehicles were towed away from the company’s premises, the number of vehicles forcefully taken away from the company by the committee is 32.

“Your Excellency, it is in the light of the foregoing that I petition your good office to look into the issues I have raised herein with the mindset to erase the erroneous impression created in the minds of the public.

“Order a release of the vehicles seized as well as payment of N5bn damages by the Benue State Goverment in view of the economic impact of my losses to enable me mitigate the  said losses and jump-start my crumbled business.”