NASS Crisis: Police Arrest Seven Suspects Over Attack On Mark’s Aide

Seven hoodlums that assaulted and broke the leg of the police aide-de-camp to the Senate President, David Mark, during the scuffle at the National Assembly on Thursday have been arrested, Police have said.
Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, disclosed this to journalists at the Force headquarters, Abuja on Friday. he however did not disclose the identity of the suspects, but vowed that they will be dealt with, for vandalising public property and attacking Policemen, their status in the society notwithstanding.
Ojukwu also reiterated his defence of the policemen, who denied some members of the House of Representatives entry into the National Assembly, saying that they acted professionally.
“All the senators that entered the premises were checked, including the Senate President himself, but on the House of Reps’ side, as the speaker was entering, he came with so many never-do-wells, thugs, those that confirmed our intelligence that there was going to be trouble at the National Assembly.
“They refused to be checked, they refused to be screened. Some of us may have seen on the (television) screen how some of them were shaking the gates, destroying government property. This matter is currently under investigation and anyone who is found to have broken the rule will be dealt with,” he said.
According to him, the intelligence report came following the All Progressives Congress’ mini-convention in Abuja and the blockade of the Force headquarters’ gates by the party members led by Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, on Wednesday.
He explained that they came to the Force headquarters with ambulances, hoping that they would provoke a violennt reaction from the police, but they were disappointed as the police exercised restraint.
“As a fall-out of their mini-convention, APC led a large APC followers and never-do-wells to the premises of the Nigeria Police headquarters. They came with ambulances expecting there would be a showdown, so maybe they would carry their dead, but the Police exercised a lot of restraint. After about two hours, they left our premises; continued monitoring their actions and utterances.
“In the course of it, we heard Governor Rotimi Amaechi saying if they don’t win the 2015 election, they will form a parallel government; we also heard that they are storming the Force headquarters was the first step, that subsequently, they will invade INEC, National Assembly and lastly, the Presidential Villa.
“So following that intelligence, the Police began to monitor the activities of these political actors, so on Thursday, 20th November, we got intelligence that they would invade the National Assembly and it is our duty to protect lives and property and so the Police mobilised to protect the National Assembly and both chambers were cordoned off because we don’t want hoodlums that attacked the Force headquarters a day before, to attack the National Assembly.”
Ojukwu maintained that an attack on the Police, was an assault on the nation, which he said would not be allowed to go without being punished.