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Policemen have arrested the suspended All Progressives Congress (APC) senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Ovie Omo-Agege, who led some thugs to steal Senate mace during plenary.
He was arrested at the Senate lobby immediately after he emerged from the chambers of the Senate on Wednesday.
Initially, two policemen laid siege for the lawmaker immediately he emerged from the chamber, led him few meters away from the hallowed chamber before other policemen dragged him to a waiting vehicle.
The police team was led by the FCT Commissioner of Police, Sadiq Bello.
At 11:19am, thugs suspected to be loyalists of Omo-Agege invaded the hallowed chambers of the Senate, disrupted plenary and stole the mace.
Mace is the symbol of authority of the legislature.
The thugs numbering three barged their way through the door of the chamber, overpowered the security agents including sergent-at-arms, carted away the mace, ran into a waiting jeep and zoomed off.
Incidentally, the National Assembly has two main security gates and three other gates all manned by security men. The place where the incident occurred is about 500 metres away from the Presidential Villa.
Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu was presiding at the time the incident happened.
Senate President Bukola Saraki is currently in the United States attending the World Bank/IMF Spring Meeting.
The thugs forced their way to the chamber with the suspended senator and asked the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker to take his seat.
However, at 12:10pm, the Senate resumed plenary after embarking on closed-door session with a ‘spare’ mace in the chamber, even as the embattled senator, Omo-Agege was still seated in the chambers.
He was flanked led by two other APC senators, Nelson Effiong and Tayo Alasoadura. Other senators including Ben Uwajumogu, Andrew Uchendu went to the embattled lawmaker to exchange banters.
In his remarks, Ekweremadu said the Senate would not be intimidated, insisting that it would exhaust all items on the Order Paper.
At 12:34pm, members of the House of Representatives paid a solidarity visit to the Senate chambers and held a joint session.
They were led by Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yusuff Lasun.
In his remarks, Ekweremadu said the thugs invaded the chamber unhindered, injured some sergeant-at-arms and almost kidnapped two senators.
He gave the Inspector General of Police, Idris Kpotum Ibrahim and Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Lawan Daura, to retrieve the stolen mace within 24 hours, a position echoed by Lasun.
He said: “Some armed thugs passed through the entrance and the gate and left the National Assembly with the mace. They attempted kidnapping two of our senators. They were eventually left but we decided that we will not be intimidated by the circumstance. We will stand by our democracy. We will defend our democracy.
“It is an affront on the Senate. It is an affront on democracy, it is an affront on the National Assembly. It is an affront on the parliament but we are going to stand together to ensure that we continue with the assignment Nigerians gave us to represent them.
“We are going to get to the rot of this matter and I believe that I speak the mind of all of you here if I say that security agencies must recover our mace within 24 hours. We are giving the Inspector General of Police and the Department of State Security(DSS) 24 hours to recover our mace.
“Let me thank the Deputy Speaker and our colleagues from the a House of Representatives. We want to assure you that we refuse to be intimidated. We are going to carry out our assignment fully.
“We have decided to go through everything on our Order Paper for today even if it takes us till 6 O,clock today. We will conclude everything here because that is what we are been paid to do”.
