Several Nigerians have condemned the rearrest of suspended Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Godwin Emefiele by men of the DSS minutes after he was granted bail by a Federal High Court in Lagos
They also condemned the manner with which he was reaarested and "snatched " from the custody of Nigerian Prison officials 46 days after he was arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS and two weeks after a Federal High Court in Abuja gave an order for his release or arraignment for any offence he might have allegedly committed, suspended Central Bank
Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, was yesterday arraigned for illegal possession of firearms and granted bail by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
Emefiele’s arraignment was, however, enmeshed in drama, following a scuffle between DSS operatives and officials of the Nigerian Prisons Service, over which of the agencies should take custody of Emefiele after he was granted bail in the sum of N20million by Justice Nicholas Oweibo.
The scuffle between the two agencies later culminated in a free-for-all as the Armed Squad Commander of the NPS, Williams Udom, who had come to give tactical support to the prison officials in the court premises, was manhandled, with his service uniform torn.
It took the intervention of a senior female DSS official, who arrived at the scene hours after the standoff and had a brief chat with NCoS officials and her operatives to douse the tension.
This paved way for the DSS to re-arrest Emefiele immediately after he stepped out of the courtroom.
The charge
In a two-count charge filed before the court, the Federal Government alleged that Mr Emefiele was found in possession of a single-barrel shotgun (Jojeff Magnum 8371) without a license on June 15, 2023, at No.3b Ibru Close, Ikoyi, Lagos.
In the second count, the suspended CBN governor was accused of having in his possession 123 rounds of live ammunition (cartridges) without a license, which is contrary to Section 8 of the Firearms Act 2004 and punishable under Section 27 (1)(b)(il) of the same Act.
The government maintained that the offence was contrary to Section 4 of the Firearms Act, 2004, and punishable under Section 27 (1b).
After the charges were read to him, Emefiele insisted on his innocence and pleaded not guilty to the allegation.