*Molests NCS officials, tears clothes of one of them

*Journalists, members of public ran for stray bullets, molestation

There was infamous drama at the Federal High Court premises in Lagos following heavy brawl between officials of the Nigeria Correctional Services (NCS) and Department of State Security (DSS) following struggle by the two agencies over which should take custody of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.

After the fracas, officials of NCS withdrew as operatives of the DSS to re-arrest Emefiele and whisked him away, shortly after having been granted bail at the court.

Recall that the DSS operatives and officials of the Nigeria Correctional Service had before now engaged in a tug-of-war over the custody of the defendant.

Two Hilux vehicles belonging to the two government agencies were directly positioned near the entrance of the courtroom to take Emefiele away.

Emefiele was arraigned at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos on two count-charge of illegal possession of firearm and ammunition.

He was brought to the court by officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) at 09:21am.

Emefiele was arraigned before a vacation judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo.

Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Joseph Daudu, SAN, led other lawyers in Emefiele’s defence.

The suspended apex bank chief, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.

After the plea, Daudu, told the court that his client has been in detention for weeks.

He also told Justice Oweibo that the application for bail has been filed, which was subsequently approved by the presiding Judge, slamming a N20 million bail on him.

The Court also ordered Emefiele to deposit his international passport in addition to producing a Civil servant not below Grade Level 16 to stand surety for him.

Accordingly, Justice Oweibo directed that Emefiele should be remanded in the Correctional Centre pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions.

However, instead of obeying the order as issued by the Court, the DSS attempted whisking Emefiele away but the move was stoutly resisted by NCS officials.

The free for all display however occurred when heavily armed DSS officials rough handled their NCS counterparts over which organisation should keep Emefiele pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions.

Amid the toxic exchanges, the armed DSS operatives, who outnumbered the prison officials, took laws into their hands and went physical in a bid to exert superiority and also execute their plans of rearresting the embattled CBN Governor.

In the process, an unidentified senior prison official was rough-handled by the rampaging secret police operatives with his uniform torn to expose the white inner singlet.

In the ensuing confusion, lawyers and journalists covering the matter ran for their dear lives to avoid apparent stray bullet and also avoid incurring the wrath of the DSS officials who had positioned themselves in strategic positions within and outside the court premises to prevent Emefiele from exiting the Court with the NCS officials.

The suspended apex Bank Governor has been in DSS detention since June, and was finally arraigned in court on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.