Victor EzejaFormer Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr Oby Ezekwesili has called on the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) to adhere to the rule of law by obeying court orders.
Ezekwesili made the call while reacting to the Tuesday incident at the Federal High Court in Lagos, where operatives of the DSS clashed with the officials of the Nigerian Correctional Services over custody of the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Emefiele, who was arraigned in court following a two-count charge bordering on alleged illegal possession of firearms, was granted bail in the sum of N20 million by the presiding judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo, who ordered that he should be kept in the custodial facility of the NCS pending when he perfects his bail conditions.
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DSS operatives, however, re-arrested Emefiele and took him back to their custody, despite the court order that he should be remanded at Ikoyi Prisons.
In a statement on her Twitter handle on Tuesday evening, Ezekwesili described the incident as a shame, adding that such can only happen in a system managed by a “predatory political class.”
“What a shame, @OfficialDSSNG! A predatory political class will always ruin everything they touch- whether citizens, public treasury, processes, institutions, media etc. Just see what has become of our country’s State Security establishment,” she wrote.
The former minister said that the effective way to curb the excess of leaders with a dictatorial tendency is for the citizens to rise up and hold political leaders and public institutions used by them accountable.
“The only effective Check on the ruinous ways of the politicians and the Public Agencies they have privatized unto themselves is Collective Citizens Action. All reasonable Citizens must keep them accountable.
“It will do you good, Mr DG of DSS to retrace your steps from this show of shame and diligently comply with the rule of law in the conduct of your activities,” Ezekwesili stated.
Just like the former minister, the action of the DSS has elicited wide reactions from a cross-section of Nigerians.
READ ALSO: Emefiele: NBA Calls For Sanction Of DSS, Prisons Officials Involved In Clash
A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, while commenting on the incident, said the DSS has “recorded yet another point in its long list of acts of and impunity.”
He said the agency’s action amounted to a “crude desecration” of the court, as it disobeyed the order of the court by re-arresting Emefiele has been granted bail.
He warned that such a “despicable” act should not be tolerated in a country practicing constitutional democracy like Nigeria.
He said: “The SSS has recorded yet another point in its long list of infamy and impunity.
“The show of shame at the Federal High Court in Lagos is a vindication of those of us who have said time and again, that this so-called law enforcement agency is nothing but a political and partisan tool in the hands of every occupant of Aso Rock.
“It is very disgusting to see the crude desecration of the Federal High Court in Lagos by the SSS. The Court ordered that Emefiele should be remanded in the Correctional Centre, but the reckless and lawless SSS in its usual character went after Emefiele in flagrant violation of the order of the court.
“Such despicable sight should not be tolerated in a constitutional democracy. Mr. Tinubu retained Mr. Bichi as the DG of the SSS because Bichi is ever willing to deploy the agency to witch-hunt Tinubu’s perceived political foes.”
The human rights lawyer said that when Emefiele was suspended, many Nigerians thought that the action was aimed at making him answer for the monetary policy decisions he made in the last administration and any “infraction” he may have committed.
Effiong, however, expressed shock that “all that the government has been able to come up with so far are two ridiculous and dubious charges of illegal possession of firearms.”
“While Asari Dokubo, who has publicly displayed an assault rifle is busy raising a private army and walking freely, the SSS shamelessly went after Emefiele over possession of primitive guns.
“Tinubu must accept responsibility for the invasion of the court. The Judiciary is now at the mercy of a lawless agency of the Executive arm of government.”
He called on the “Judiciary to rise up and defend its integrity and independence.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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