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Operatives of Department of State Services have arrested a top official of Ikoyi Prisons on the premises of Federal High Court in Lagos State.
The arrest may not be unconnected with the tussle for who keeps custody of the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
The Ikoyi prison official who was rough-handled and shuffled into the DSS vehicle was later released by the secret service operatives.
A mild drama played out at the Federal High Court, Lagos State, between DSS operatives and officials of Nigeria Correctional Service as they tussled over who keeps custody of Emefiele.
Emefiele was arraigned by the Federal Ministry of Justice for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition but was granted bail in the sum of N20m with one surety, following his “not guilty” plea.
As the defendant’s lawyers were trying to perfect his bail conditions, a mild drama played out within the court premises between DSS operatives who are fully hooded and NCS over who will take custody of the embattled, suspended CBN boss.
Reacting to the scenario that played out in the court premises over the action of the parties, former Chairman, of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, Dave Ajetumobi, described the face-off between the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), and official of Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS), over custody of the suspended Central Bank Nigeria, CBN, Emefiele as a national embarrassment.
Ajetumobi berated DSS for its action, noting that the organisation had turned into a monster and menace to the country’s progress, which President Bola Tinubu needed to address before it was too late.
He said since President Tinubu took over, DSS had fought two different government agencies all in the name of flexing muscle.
Ajetumobi called on the president to sanction DSS for its wrongdoing and not to allow it to dent the image of his administration.
“The scenario plays out in court is a national shame. DSS cannot become law to itself. Excesses of the organisation are getting too much, so, I believe it is high time President Tinubu cut them to size, in order not to allow them to dent the image of his administration,” he said.
Executive Director, the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Okechukwu Nwanguma, also called for the sanction of DSS for its action which it described as lawlessness and a national disgrace.
Nwanguma called on President Tinubu to check DSS’s activities. He said the action of operatives of DSS was completely uncalled for and amounted to a threat to the principle of the rule of law. He described the action of DSS as unprofessional, unethical and crude.
Another rights activist, and Executive Director of, Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURMA), Buna Olaitan Isiak, called on President Tinubu to probe what transpired between DSS and NCS.
He said: “There is separation of power in democracy; if a court makes any verdict if the DSS is not pleased, they know the next step to take. DSS really overstepped their bounds by overruling the court verdict with its action. No arm of government is bigger than the other, therefore, DSS needs to be sanctioned,” he said.
Also, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) described the incident as ‘unmitigated shame’.
HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, yesterday, said: “Following the widely reported fisticuff between hooded operatives of DSS and the officers of the Lagos correctional centre at court premises, over the custody of the embattled governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu has been tasked to restore professionalism and discipline in the two institutions.
“The government must call the DSS, particularly, to order, and there has to be some kind of sanctions administratively for this open show of shame, except and unless the entire drama, which has muddied the global public relations image of Nigeria was choreographed by the DSS and prison warders on the express order of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
“Aside from the issue of a clear and present danger that the Nigerian government has allowed the institutions of the federation to be populated by some persons with no regard to public decency, professionalism, discipline and ethics.
“There is also the threat this event of a very despicable kind has on Nigeria, and this will scare away willing foreign direct investors who would now think that Nigeria is in an autopilot position, whereby the decisions of the competent courts of law are treated with disdain by a statutory law enforcement body such as the DSS.
“We ask the Federal Government to stop allowing security officials paid from taxpayers’ money to continuously act in ways that depict the country as a very lawless contraption. We urge the federal government to put an end to these cocktails of disgraceful public fights by officers of supposed law enforcement agencies.”
