Presidency, IG Defend Deployment Of Policemen

While the Senators and House members fumed, the Presidency and Abba justified the deployment of security operatives, saying it was to defend the 1999 Constitution and prevent a breakdown of law and order.

Abba, in a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, said the police action followed an intelligence report of a likely invasion of the House   by thugs.

He claimed   that in the course of screening the House members and visitors, Tambuwal arrived with “a motley crowd and assaulted the Police operatives on duty.”

The IG   cautioned politicians and their followers to respect constituted authorities and follow due process in the pursuit of their agenda.

He warned that the Police   “shall apply the full weight of the law on any political actor who violates the peace and security of the nation.”

To the Presidency,     there was no need to castigate the action of the police, which it said, was aimed at making sure that the laws of the land were obeyed.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President   on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, told journalists at a news conference in Abuja that it would be wrong to assume that the IG was acting on orders from the Presidency.

Okupe said, “Assumption (on whether the police boss was acting on instruction from the President) should stop. The IG is a very senior officer of the government and his duties are to enforce the law.

“He doesn’t need to get the Villa to enforce the law. Though he works under the government, he is expected to defend the law. The IG has the duty to enforce the law.

“He acted in the discharge of his duty. The IG didn’t invade the assembly. It is wrong to assume that.”

Nevertheless, Okupe described the commotion in   the National Assembly as unfortunate and appealed to politicians to always put the interest of the nation first in their actions.

He appealed to the members of the House   to urgently resolve the crisis before Tuesday to enable them to act on the President’s request for the extension of emergency rule in North-East.