Operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) and prison officials on Tuesday fought over the custody of suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele after a Lagos court granted him and ordered that he should be moved from DSS custody and remanded at a correctional centre.
The secret police and prison officials clashed over the agency to take custody of the suspended and embattled apex bank chief after Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos admitted Emefiele to bail in the sum of the N20m.
Shortly after the ruling, DSS operatives strategically positioned their Hilux Pick Up van used to bring Emefiele to court, in a manner suggesting that they wanted to take him back to their detention centre.
This prompted Emefiele’s lead counsel, Joseph Daudu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and other lawyers to raise an alarm about their client’s planned re-arrest by the secret police.
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After the court ruling, the suspended CBN governor holed up inside the courtroom with his lawyers.
However, when the prison officials moved to take Emefiele into custody pending the fulfillment of his bail conditions, the secret police challenged them and it led to a fight.
Amid the clash, Emefiele’s lawyers “reluctantly allowed the DSS to disobey court orders and take custody of their client” to avoid a gun battle.
The prison officials then exited the court in their vehicle and the DSS took charge.
Emefiele was brought to court by DSS operatives in a hilux vehicle on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
Appearing before Justice Oweibo, Emefiele, 61, pleaded “not guilty” to the two counts of illegal possession of firearm and ammunition filed against him by the Federal Government.
In his submissions, Emefiele’s lawyer, Daudu, urged the court to grant bail on self-recognizance or on other liberal terms, pending the hearing and determination of the trial.
READ ALSO: Suspended CBN governor, Emefiele to know fate July 25
He said, “There is no counter affidavit from the Federal Government opposing bail. Also, the defendant is a renowned banker and can only stay at his house, he can’t travel anywhere.”
However, counsel for the Federal Government, Nkiru Jones-Nebo, in an oral submission, opposed the bail application, insisting that the prosecution had not been given time to respond in line with the provisions of fair hearing enshrined in the constitution.
In his ruling on the bail application, Justice Oweibo said, “I find and hold that the prosecution has failed to establish why the defendant should not be granted bail.
President Bola Tinubu had suspended Emefiele as the apex bank chief on June 9, 2023.
A day after, the Department of State Services (DSS) confirmed that the embattled and suspended CBN chief was in its custody.