A Bauchi-based legal practitioner, Barrister Alkassim Mohammed, said the Department of State Security (DSS) has the right to re-arrest the suspended Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emiefele after the Federal High Court in Lagos granted him a bail.
A mild show of power ensued between operatives of the DSS and Nigerian Correctional Services Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos on who will take custody of Emiefele after his bail.
Barrister Mohammed opined that what the DSS did was constitutional, saying had Emefele fulfilled his bail condition, for instance, the DSS or any other agency can arrest him on another charge.
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“In my opinion as a lawyer and private practitioner who reside in Bauchi, the DSS is an establishment of the law with specific functions and responsibilities under the National Security Agency Act.
“Now under the National Security Agency Act, there are three agencies that are involved in this particular act; the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the DSS,” said Mohammed.
“By law each of these agencies has a particular responsibility to carry including the DSS,” he added.
Aligning with provisions of sections three and four of the National Security Agency Act, the legal practitioner argued that there is no any provision of the law that the DSS violated.
“In my view, legally, the act of the DSS in re-arresting Emeifele does not violate any law of Nigeria.
“Assuming it was not DSS that rearrested Emiefele, any of those agencies that I mentioned can also re-arrest him because section 3, sub-sections a, b and c and section 4 of the National Security Agency Act have given powers to the State Security Service to maintain peace, prevention of crime internally.
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“Emiefele had been charged with a series of offences before the Federal High Court and has been granted bail. Before the fulfilment of the bail any other agencies, even including the police, can re-arrest him on a different allegation,” he said.
According to him, even if Emiefele had been acquitted by the court, the DSS can arrest him again on another charge bordering on national security.
“But the question here is assuming he was even tried, discharged and acquitted, immediately he came out of the court, any of the agencies of the government can re-arrest him on a different issue.
“So in my view, the DSS were right to have taken that step in rearresting Emefele simply because everybody knows the atrocities alleged to have been committed by Emefele which put Nigerians in distress condition and it was alleged that they used his office to sponsor IPOB. There are facts to that. The DSS cannot just arrest him without evidence,” he clarified further.
The lawyer alleged that the prison officers have ulterior motives for showing up uninvited at the court premises.
“The question here is even as of the time the court granted him bail, making an order that he should be remanded in the correctional services, where was the correctional services?
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“They were not part of the case and who called them? They would have waited until the court officials, meaning the registrar of the court in collaboration with the DSS take Emeifele to the Correctional Services Centre for proper custody before fulfilment of the bail conditions.
“Where were they at that time? It seemed they had already arranged for that so that if he is taken to them and they would give him all the leverage in the correctional centre, give him all the facilities that will make his life normal, by even giving him access to phone calls and lots of things,” he alleged.
The lawyer said owing to these allegations, the DSS were right to re-arrest Emiefele to remain in their custody, saying “they were right to have rearrested him. We salute the efforts of the DSS in handling the issue properly as a lawyer and a Nigerian who has the right under the constitution this is my position.”
