.Ezekwesili, Sowore, Omokri react ask DSS to “Stop embarrassing the nation’
.President should arrest DSS DG for the behaviour of his operatives.- constitutional lawyer
.Says their action is a big dishonor and insult on judiciary arm of government
.as DSS re-arrest Emefiele, after face-off over custody with Police, NCS
Some Nigerians have knocked the Federal Government and the Department of State Services (DSS) for rearresting the suspended governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Goodwin Emefiele after the court granted him bail.
The growing outrage following the violent clash between the officials of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) and operatives of DSS, over the custody of Emefiele, at the premises of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos on Tuesday.
However, when the prison authorities attempted to take Emefiele into their custody until he fulfilled his bail requirements, the operatives of the DSS contested their actions, resulting in a fight.
Recall that the Federal High Court in Ikoyi granted Emefiele bail, but ordered the Nigeria Correctional Service to keep the suspended CBN Governor in their custody pending the perfection of his bail.
The DSS however, positioned their security Toyota Hilux jeep close to the entrance of the court and refused to leave the court premises.
Sensing the agenda of the DSS, operatives of the Nigeria Correctional Service decided to weigh in, insisting that the court order expressly ordered them to have custody of Emefiele. Things got to a head between the two government security agencies until they started throwing punches in public.
Reacting to the rearrest , the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the last election, Omoyele Sowore, who described DSS as “lawless” addressed the scene as “a show of shame”.
“When the DSS abducted me in court in front of an Abuja Federal High Court Judge in 2019.”
Sowore said the embattled Emefiele “sent a fellow to me that I haven’t seen anything yet. The fellow opened up to me that my plight was being managed and funded between Emefiele, Isa Funtua and @MBuhari’s Chief of staff, Abba Kyari. Today, the DSS is disgracing itself publicly as a lawless organisation.”
In his own reaction, the Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri urged the people in power to realise that life is like a wheel.
In his tweet on Tuesday, Omokri said, “On this Emefiele matter, I urge the powers that be to realise that life is like a wheel. The parts that are down today may be up tomorrow when the wheel spins. And the One Who spins the wheel is God. Let us be mindful of that. Mercy is a precious virtue in both Christianity and Islam.”
Also, a social commentary and Former Minister of Education of Nigeria, Oby Ezekwesili in a tweet on her official tweeter handle condemned the DSS Director General and the secret police for allegedly allowing the agency to be used by politicians.
“The DG of @OfficialDSSNG who without decorum publicly advertises that he is a close friend of @officialABAT , obviously thinks the average IQ of sensible Nigerians is as low as that of the politicians he has reduced that Agency of @NigeriaGov to serve.”
“Stop embarrassing yourselves and tell us the truth of the Emefiele matter jooo. Be guided.
Also, Netizens have, however, lambasted both agencies over the clash, describing it as a national embarrassment.
A Twitter user, @Yerimaroy wrote “A total disgrace, our security institutions have been rubbish to the dustbin. How can they be doing this without shame?”
Another user, @digital_1 tweeted, “This is embarrassing and unprofessional from these security men!”
“We don’t have DSS. What we have is gangsters. Just look are shameless they are. This is so embarrassing.” @Dukeofsapele opined.
“Let’s see how many politicians and patriotic Nigerians that would come out against this display of lawlessness and disregard for the rule of law. When organizations tasked with working together to uphold the law are seen engaging in this shamelessness, Nigeria is in a crisis.” @its_gohkeh tweeted.
Also, reacting to the unprofessional conduct, Constitutional Lawyers have condemned the DSS, calling for the suspension and arrest of the Director General of the agency, Yusuf Bichi.
The constitutional lawyers led by Barr. Tijani Ahmed in a statement called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to save democracy and the image of the judiciary by immediately ordering the arrest of DSS DG for the behaviour of his operatives.
They lamented DSS’ continuous total disrespect and disregard for the rule of law, saying that something urgent needed to be done by the government to put an end to this abuse of power.
The statement reads, “It’s a big shame and insult, that the judiciary arm of government was disrespected by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) who fought officials of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) over who would take custody of suspended Central Bank of Nigeria, Governor Godwin.
“Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos admitted Emefiele to bail in the sum of the N20 million. The Judge ordered that Emefiele be remanded at the correctional center pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions. 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 abduct him to their detention centre.
“According to reports, 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. 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 fulfilment of his bail conditions, the secret police challenged them and it led to a fight.
“Over the months the DSS has been on rampage, first they disregarded court rulings barring them from arresting Emefiele. Again they disregarded court ruling ordering them to release him. Now they are disregarding court ruling ordering his release. At this point the secret police had proven to be a rogue agency with no regard for the rule of law. How can an agency of the government violate bail order? Not once , not twice!!! We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to save democracy and image of the judiciary by immediately ordering the arrest of DSS DG for the rogue behaviour of his operatives. This cannot be allowed to continue. Also the DSS can’t rearrest Emefiele until he perfects his bail and released.
Similarly, George, a brother to the embattled former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, has condemned the face-off between operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, and the Nigeria Correctional Centre.
George described the fight between the two security agencies as a disgrace.
Speaking with journalists at the court premises, George said: “It’s unfortunate that this is happening in Nigeria, a democratic nation that is blessed with people of integrity.
“I remembered how the current president fought the military tooth and nail during the NADECO period.“Three courts have said release him on bail, he is not running away, he served this nation for nine years, all his life was in Nigeria here.
“You can imagine where two Federal Government apparatuses are fighting themselves. This is a disgrace to this nation.
“How else are we going to describe this? If this is happening today to somebody who served this nation for nine years, then, what is the fate of the poor man.”
