A senior official at the Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO), Nene Lily Emeya, has been arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), reportedly for calling out internal misconduct and demanding a probe into the alleged forgery of her signature on official legal documents.
Emeya, who serves as NELMCO’s Senior Manager of Risk Management, was taken into custody on Monday morning at her office, just hours before she was expected to appear before an internal disciplinary panel. Sources within the organization claim the arrest was a deliberate move to silence her, following her open criticism of the agency’s Managing Director, Mojoyinoluwa Dekalu-Thomas.
“She was picked up by DSS operatives at her office right before the disciplinary panel could sit,” an insider told Said .“This came after she challenged the MD over several internal issues.”
Her troubles reportedly began in April 2024, when she discovered that her signature had been fraudulently used on legal documents in a case where she was named as a witness. Despite formally reporting the incident to the company’s General Counsel, Ugochukwu Ogbonna, no investigation was carried out. Instead, she claims she was reassigned to a different department, a move she interpreted as retaliatory.
In a memo dated October 14, 2024, addressed to the company’s leadership through the Director of Risk Management, Emeya detailed the situation and warned that her reassignment appeared to be an act of victimization for raising concerns over the forged signature and issues surrounding her annual leave.
Following that, she received a query accusing her of insubordination, abusive language, and making false allegations against officials. In her official response, dated June 25, 2025, Emeya firmly denied all accusations, stating that the claims were “vague, unsubstantiated, and malicious.”
“The tone and content of the query portray me unfairly. The accusations do not represent how I conduct myself as a public officer,” she wrote.
Addressing claims of insubordination during a June 19 staff forum, Emeya explained, “At no point did I behave disrespectfully or disrupt proceedings. I participated professionally and made my contributions with decorum.”
She also strongly refuted claims that she used derogatory language, including ethnic slurs. “I have never used such offensive terms toward anyone at the agency. Moreover, the query does not mention any specific individual who made such accusations,” she noted.
Central to Emeya’s case is the unresolved issue of the forged signature. “To this day, management has not investigated the forgery. Neither the legal representatives involved nor the court documents have been reviewed to verify the forgery,” she stated.
She added that her previous petitions never named any individual within or outside the agency as responsible for the forgery, and condemned management’s dismissal of her claims without due inquiry as premature and biased.
Emeya ended her response by reaffirming her commitment to professionalism. “I have always maintained respectful and calm interactions with my colleagues. I am not aware of any action on my part that could be deemed disruptive or inappropriate.”
The circumstances surrounding her arrest have raised questions about internal accountability and the treatment of whistleblowers in public agencies.
