The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has described as “shameful” the recent public fight between operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) on Tuesday.
The Operatives of the DSS, a Nigerian law enforcement agency clashed with warders, in the premises of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, after the hearing of a case involving the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele.
Both agencies, after the hearing of the case in which the CBN Governor was granted bail in the sum of 20 million naira, had a disagreement over who should have the suspended Governor in custody.
Emefiele who was suspended by President Bola Tinubu on June 9, 2023, was arrested and arraigned by a secret police for over six weeks on a two-count charge of illegal possession of firearm and ammunition filed against him by the Federal Government, a charge to which he pleaded not guilty.
According to a source who narrated what transpired at the federal high court after the hearing explained that “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.”
The source added that, “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.”
However, by their actions, both agencies have attracted criticism from various quarters across the nation as many, including the NBA has condemned the act of physical combat which they displayed in the court premises on Tuesday.
NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau in a statement issued on Wednesday through the associations’ National Publicity Secretary, Akorede Habeeb Lawal, described the event as a “disgraceful conduct” while calling on both agencies to take immediate disciplinary measures against the officers involved.
According to Maikyau, a public fight between officers of the two government agencies particularly 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.”
The statement read in full:
“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.”
Meanwhile, Justice Oweibo has ordered that the former CBN Governor be remanded at the correctional centre pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions.
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