Suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele was rearrested on Tuesday by operatives of the Department of State Services after he was granted N20 million bail by a Federal High Court in Lagos. The re-arrest followed a drama when DSS operatives came at odds with officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) over the custody of the suspended CBN boss.
Emefiele, who was arraigned at about 9:21am, before Justice Nicholas Oweibo on a two-count charge of illegal possession of firearms, pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail in the sum of N20 million with one surety in like sum.
The court then adjourned the case till November 14 for trial and remanded Emefiele in the custody of the correctional service pending perfection of his bail conditions.
But sensing that he would be re-arrested by DSS, Emefiele remained in the courtroom for hours after the case was adjourned.
His lead counsel and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Joseph Daudu (SAN), also raised the alarm about the plans by the DSS to re-arrest his client.
The court premises was filled with armed operatives of the DSS, who were strategically positioned at the entrance to the courtroom.
When a senior officer of the Nigerian Correctional Service made an attempt to take the defendant into custody in line with the court’s directive, the DSS resisted the move, which led to a faceoff.
Meanwhile, the DSS is yet to issue a statement on why it rearrested the suspended CBN governor.
But a source familiar with the case said Emefiele was rearrested based on an arrest warrant obtained from a magistrate’s court.
“The arrest warrant was based on an allegation of financing terrorism. We don’t know the propriety of the arrest warrant because a copy has not been made available to the defence team.
