Godwin Emefiele: NBA slams DSS, NCoS over altercation, seeks punishment for officers

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has lampooned the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) for the altercation that ensued between them on Tuesday.

Both law enforcement agencies were enmeshed in a squabble in the premises of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, over the custody of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.

NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau, in a statement on Wednesday, called on the two agencies to take immediate disciplinary measures against the officers involved in the “disgraceful conduct”.

Maikyau said the duel between officers of the two government agencies in a federal court was a prescription for anarchy and chaos, adding that it was a “brazen disrespect for the sanctity of the court premises”.

On Tuesday, the secret police and prison officials caused a stir when they clashed on the court premises over the agency to take custody of the embattled apex bank chief after Justice Nicholas Oweibo granted him bail in the sum of N20 million.

Oweibo also ordered that Emefiele be remanded at the correctional centre pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions.

This was after the 61-year-old pleaded “not guilty” to the two-count charge of illegal possession of firearm and ammunition filed against him by the Federal Government. Emefiele, who was suspended by President Bola Tinubu on June 9, 2023, was arraigned over six weeks after his arrest and detention by the secret police.

Shortly after Emefiele’s arraignment and bail, DSS operatives strategically positioned their Hilux Pick Up van used in bring him to court, in a manner suggesting that they wanted to take him back to their detention centre but the suspended CBN governor holed up inside the courtroom with his lawyers.

When the prison officials moved to take Emefiele into custody pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions, the secret police challenged them and it led to a fight.

Reacting to the disgraceful drama between the two agencies yesterday, via a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Akorede Habeeb Lawal, NBA said, “A situation where officers of Federal Government agencies engage in a fight as witnessed by the public, for whatever reason, is antithetical to our security as a nation and creates a recipe for anarchy and chaos.

“Both the DSS and the NCoS are important institutions dealing with national security and administration of justice respectively, and the need for them to work in concert towards attaining justice in a secured Nigeria cannot be overemphasised.”

“While it is difficult not to hold the leadership of the two federal government agencies directly responsible for the shameful and disgraceful conduct of the personnel, the NBA President has particularly called on the two agencies “to take immediate disciplinary measures against the officers involved in this disgraceful conduct.”

“In addition to this disciplinary measure, Mr Maikyau also advised “a complete overhaul of the institutions and a total reorientation of the personnel, to achieve professionalism and ensure synergy in the discharge of their respective constitutional responsibilities.”

“The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) remains committed to the promotion and protection of the principles of the rule of law and due process, within a safe and secured Nigeria.”