Senate directs police committee to investigate invasion of Akwa Ibom Assembly

The Senate has mandated its Police Affairs Committee to investigate alleged invasion of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly by suspected thugs on Tuesday.

It gave the committee 48 hours to submit its report for consideration.

This mandate followed a Point of Order raised by Sen. Bassey Akpan (PDP-Akwa Ibom) at plenary on Wednesday.

He said suspected thugs invaded and disrupted activities of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly on Tuesday.

According to him, he witnessed the invasion when he visited the Assembly Complex in company of Gov. Udom Emmanuel.

Contributing, Sen. Jibrin Barau (APC-Kano), called on the senate to distance itself from the issue, saying it was already in court.

He advised the Senate to distance itself from state matters and concentrate rather on national issues.

In his remarks, the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki said it was important to investigate the matter to enable the Senate to have a full grasp of what transpired at the Assembly.

Saraki said the Senate would at all times stand to defend democracy, noting that the invasion of a democratic institution such as the state house of assembly should be condemned wherever it occurred.

“We were all here when this chamber was invaded. We cannot tolerate the invasion of the hallowed chamber of any legislative house.

“It is completely unacceptable. The Police Affairs Committee should find out what happened and report back to the Senate within 48 hours,” he said. (NAN)