The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has described as “despicable”, Tuesday’s scuffle between operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) over the custody of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau, in a statement on Wednesday, called on the two agencies to take immediate disciplinary measures against the officers involved in the “disgraceful conduct”.
In his words: “While it is difficult not to hold the leadership of the two federal government agencies directly responsible for the shameful and disgraceful conduct of its personnel, one cannot discount the possible overzealousness or excesses of the officers involved, as being responsible for what we witnessed today. This incident regrettably is further evidence of the lack of discipline and absence of professionalism that continues to plague key security institutions in Nigeria, which, without doubt, is largely responsible for the limited progress in achieving a coordinated response to security concerns across the country.”
The NBA emphasized the grave implications of such a clash between agencies responsible for national security and the administration of justice. Such events, witnessed by the public, undermine the nation’s security and create an environment prone to anarchy and chaos.
“A situation where officers of Federal Government agencies engage in a fight as witnessed by the public, for whatever reason, is antithetical to our security as a nation and creates a recipe for anarchy and chaos. Both the DSS and the NCoS are important institutions dealing with national security and administration of justice respectively, and the need for them to work in concert towards attaining justice in a secured Nigeria cannot be overemphasised.”