In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, Obed Agu, a human rights lawyer, said We are in a democracy practicing government, and this is not the first time the security agencies, especially the DSS, have blatantly disobeyed court orders, especially concerning the case of Godwun Emefiele, the suspended CBN governor. The court has constantly ruled in Emefiele’s favour against the Department of State Security Services, and again the DSS rearrested him against the ruling of the court.
In the mayhem caused by the DSS trying to arrest Emefiele, a correctional officer was manhandled and his uniform torn to shreds. Agu went on to appeal to President Bola Tinubu, saying that Yusuf Bichi Magaji, who is the director general of the State Security Service, will make a mess of his record as someone who is obedient to the rule of law and the constitution of Nigeria.
“There is separation of powers if the executive, legislature, and judiciary have their powers, and if these three arms of government cannot work in synergy, then there is no government. We saw the court give an order that Emefiele be taken to a correctional facility until he perfects his bail; why was he still arrested by the DSS if it is not a vendetta?”
Agu said the ideal thing that should have been done was that, after the court had granted Emefiele bail and a bail bond in the amount of 20 million naira, he should have been let go, and the DSS had no right to lay hands on him. “The only time the DSS would have had such rights after bail is if the court ordered Emefiele to keep being in their custody pending when he fulfills his bail,” which was not the case.
The DSS objected to his bail, saying they had found an open flight ticket in his custody. That reason was not good enough to deny Emefiele bail, and according to the law, Emefiele is innocent until proven guilty, says Obed Agu.
He concluded by saying what Emefieles lawyers should do after this rearrest is make sure his bail conditions are perfected, and after that, serve it to the DSS. ” Once that is done, if they don’t obey, there should be a release warrant for Emefiele because the way we can obtain arrest warrants, we can also obtain release warrants.” Once the court signs a release warrant, the DSS can no longer keep him under any circumstances.
-Catherine Amaga
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