In an attempt to re-arrest the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, there was a clash between officials of the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Correctional Services at the premises of the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Emefiele was brought to court by the Attorney General of the Federation, under the Ministry of Justice, on two charges of illegal possession of firearms.
Having pleaded not guilty, Mr. Emefiele was granted bail by Justice Nicholas Oweibo in the amount of twenty million naira, with one surety required to provide a similar sum.
The trial was adjourned until November 14, and the defendant was to be remanded in the correction.
Meanwhile, after the case was adjourned, the defendant remained in the courtroom several hours after the case ended. The court environment was filled with armed men of the DSS, who were seen waiting at the entrance to the courtroom where the defendant was arraigned. Meanwhile, when a top official of the Nigerian Correctional Service attempted to take the defendant into custody as ordered by the court, officials of the DSS resisted the move. Officials of the DSS, brandishing their guns, pushed the senior official of the correctional service and prevented him from taking custody of the suspended central bank governor. At the time of filing this report, Emefiele is still inside the courtroom and the Prison Squadron Commander and his men have withdrawn from the court’s vicinity.
Meanwhile, after the case was adjourned, the defendant remained in the courtroom several hours after the case ended.
