Babs Oyetoro and Olusegun Olanrewaju
It was another day of fuzzy business yesterday when the embattled, suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, appeared in court to answer charges of gun possession.

Security agents, particularly from the Department of State Services (DSS) caused a great stir when they tore at and rough-handled a Correctional Service officer as the two security agencies battled for supremacy at the court premises.

Pandemonium broke out at the hallowed premises of the Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday, as a morose-looking erstwhile topmost banker in the country attempted to step to freedom following a bail granted for him after being admitted to an N20m temporary freedom, a move that was stridently aborted by men of the secret police who promptly re-arrested him.

Emefiele had been charged by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) under the Federal Ministry of Justice for trial before Justice Nicholas Oweibo, on two counts for allegedly being in illegal possession of firearms and live ammo.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail in the sum of N20 million with one surety in like sum.

Agency reports noted that the twin charges were by far lesser than the alleged terrorism financing and economic crimes that the security had earlier accused him of last year, even though they carry long prison terms.

After the admittance to bail, the court adjourned the case until November 14 for trial and ordered a remand of the defendant in the correctional service pending the perfection of his bail.

*Embattled CBN gov granted N20m bail, forcefully taken away by secret police

Trouble, however, started brewing after the case was adjourned, as the defendant remained in the courtroom several hours after the case had ended.

Newsmen covering the trial had a dose of feeling that further trouble was wafting in the air, following snippets that the defendant may likely be re-arrested by the DSS.

They had been waiting for a long time for the trial. Soon, their fears were to be confirmed when the court was filled with armed men of the secret police, who were seen waiting with guns at the entrance to the courtroom where Emefiele was arraigned.

The icing on the cake was when an unnamed top official of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) attempted to take the defendant into custody of the service as ordered by the court. Officials of the DSS forcefully resisted the move.

The security officials were seen pushing the correctional service officer off, ordering all journalists to move out of the vicinity while brandishing their guns.

Visitors to the court were seen running for safety, and for a long time on the day of the commotion, the defendant stayed inside the courtroom.

“It was unclear what the situation will be going forward,” the News Agency of Nigeria reported.

The worried-looking ex-CBN chief was later wheeled away by security operatives, leaving a hail of angst among concerned citizens and civil rights activists.

*The trial: Emefiele pleads, ‘not guilty’

Lagos, the economic hub of Nigeria, was turned into a theatre of chaos when Nigeria’s banking chief was docked on charges of illegal possession of firearms and live ammunition.

Emefiele, who had earlier been suspended in June by Nigeria’s new president, Bola Tinubu, and subsequently detained by Nigeria’s secret police, was brought to the court in Lagos, carrying a Bible draped in red covers. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The presiding judge, Justice Oweibo, granted him bail, despite objections from the attorney general’s office. The case was adjourned until November, which will kick-start Emefiele’s trial, all beings being equal.

Emefiele’s appearance in court was his first in public since June 10 when he was detained by the DSS.

President Tinubu removed Emefiele shortly after taking office and ordered an investigation into his activities. The erstwhile CBN governor was arrested a day later, on June 10, and has been in detention since. The detention prompted criticisms of the secret police and a legal tussle between the governor and the ‘Department’.

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*Nigerians express displeasure over inter-agency rivalry

Emefiele’s arrest had created a flurry of accusations against the Federal Government, especially because of fears about the implications for the larger economy, earlier in the year.

For instance, a Lagos-based financial analyst, who sought anonymity, was quoted by an online news medium as saying that the governor’s trial could negatively impact the apex bank at a time when the country is looking to attract more foreign investors.

The respondent delved into the political, suggesting Emefiele’s travails could have been the residue of a rumour that he was nursing a presidential ambition in the lead-up to Nigeria’s elections earlier in the year, though he never declared interest in the position.

Yesterday’s re-arrest and the drama staged by the DSS prompted worried comments from several columns.

A commentator on social media, wondered, “Why does it have to be the DSS every time’. Another echoed, wondering “whether the country is not sliding into the era of the Rafindadi days”. He was referring to the dreary days of the progenitor of the DSS, the defunct Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO), over alleged human rights abuses.

Some lawyers also protested the re-arrest at the court premises, even though such a scenario is not scarce in the country, especially in high-wire cases.

On his part, a human rights lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, has condemned in its entirety the face-off between the DSS and NCS.

Describing the issue as uncalled for and unacceptable in a decent society like ours, Ogunye said “The show of shame within the court premises by the two government security agencies is unruly behaviour that should not have happened in a civil court.”

He added, “Brazenly displaying guns in a civil court is unacceptable.”

It would be recalled that the court had ordered a remand of the former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele in the correctional service pending perfection of his bail.

But the rights activist and lawyer reasoned that the DSS should have informed the presiding judge that Emefiele still has some offences to attend to, “which are yet to be attended to by the defendant”.

He, however, also blamed the correctional service authorities “to have openly challenged the DSS”, saying whichever place Emefiele is detained is still within Nigeria.

He also counselled Emefiele’s lawyers to go back to the court to enforce the fundamental human rights of the embattled CBN governor.