On Tuesday, officials from the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) and the Department of State Services (DSS) clashed over the custody of suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele.
The secret police and jail authorities argued over which agency would take custody of the suspended and embattled apex bank leader after Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos granted Emefiele bail in the sum of N20 million.
The judge also ordered Emefiele to be held at the penitentiary facility until the bail requirements were met.
Shortly after the ruling, DSS operatives deliberately positioned the Hilux Pick Up van used to transport Emefiele to court, implying that they intended to return him to their detention center.
This prompted Emefiele’s lead counsel, Joseph Daudu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and other lawyers to warn of their client’s impending re-arrest by the secret police.
Following the court verdict, the suspended CBN governor barricaded himself inside the courtroom with his counsel.
However, when prison officials tried to detain Emefiele pending the completion of his bail conditions, the secret police confronted them, resulting in a standoff.
