Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Drama ensued between two federal agencies on Tuesday over the custody of the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, after his appearance in court after more than a month in custody.
The fight occurred at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, where Mr Emefiele was arraigned before a judge and was granted bail to the sum of N20 million.
Armed operatives of the Department of State Security Service (DSS) and the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) fought within the court premises, with their hands, over who would take custody of the suspended banker.
While the prison officials argued that Mr Emefiele should be in their custody pending when he meets his bail condition, DSS officials said they had a separate court order to rearrest him, whether or not he met his bail conditions.
The violence happened about three hours after the court granted Mr Emefiele N20 million bail and one surety in like sum.
The judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo, had ordered that Mr Emefiele, pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions, be remanded in the custody of the Correctional Service.
It was discovered that after the ruling, DSS operatives strategically positioned to re-arrest Mr Emefiele, which forced his counsel, Mr Joseph Daudu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), to raise the alarm.
This promoted the prison officials to take Mr Emefiele into custody pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions.
Upon this, the secret police challenged them, leading to a fight.
Meanwhile, the suspended CBN governor remained in the sanctity of the courtroom with his lawyers.
Mr Emefiele’s lawyers then allowed the DSS to step in, disobeying the court order, and take custody of their client, as it sought to avoid a violent face-off.
The prison officials then exited the court in their vehicle, and the DSS took charge.
