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Fence-Climbing Lawmakers Are Suspected Thugs – IGP

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Members of the House Committee on Police Affairs were shocked yesterday when the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mr Sulaiman Abba, told them that he would not address Aminu Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

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Abba drew the ire of the committee members when in his submission addressed the Speaker as Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal and also described the lawmakers who scaled the gate last Thursday as suspected thugs.

At this point, Rep. Akeem Muniru, APC, Lagos declared that ”if the Inspector General of Police cannot appropriately address the Speaker on whose ticket we were appointed as members of this committee then I will honourably leave here.”

Chairman of the committee, Hon. Usman Kumo, PDP, Gombe quickly interjected, appealing to his members that the Inspector-General of Police has the floor and should be allowed to deliver his submission without interference.

Members openly complained, particularly Hon. Shuaibu Gwandu, PDP, Sokoto and Hon. Rufai Chachangi, APC, Kaduna, declaring that the IGP should retract what he said.

After about five minutes, the chairman successfully calmed frayed nerves.

Reading his submission, Abba said: “My deep sympathy goes to those who sustained injuries in what happened on November 20 and let me say here that it hurts my own person as the events of that day traumatised me.

“What transpired on that day was unprecedented worldwide as policemen were disobeyed, beaten and many things that followed after that date. In the process of safeguarding the security of the National Assembly on November 20, we collaborated with the National Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms according to laid down procedures where members were being asked to identify themselves before they could be allowed into the premises.

“And at the gate there, a tear gas exploded when ‘Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal’ was being asked to identity himself. We still don’t know the circumstances surrounding the explosion and we are investigating it.”

I acted on credible information —IGP

He claimed he acted based on credible information to deploy his men to the NASS on the said day, adding that the action was also due to what happened on the 19th when Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and other APC supporters besieged the Force Headquarters promising to do worse things the following day, including going to the National Assembly.

He said: “Considering what happened in Burkina Faso on October 30 where the palace was invaded, we had no choice than to go for reinforcement to curb the situation.”

Suspected thugs

The IGP insisted that there were reports that those who scaled the fence on that day were thugs.

Asked whether the so-called thugs include the lawmakers who resorted to scaling the fence after being locked out by the Police, he said the actions that were taken were based on the need to forestall breakdown of law and order as witnessed recently in Bukina Faso.

“We acted on credible information about suspected thugs who wanted to invade the Assembly and because we didn’t want what happened in Bukina Faso to repeat itself here, we had to take stringent security measures,” the IGP said.

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