UPDATED: Inspector General of Police orders arrest of Speaker Tambuwal
Sources told Daily Trust a similar order has been handed down to the Department of State Security (DSS.) The orders were given following the fracas that broke out at the National Assembly on Thursday where members of the House of Representatives were confronted by armed security personnel who threw canisters of teargas at the speaker […]
Sources told Daily Trust a similar order has been handed down to the Department of State Security (DSS.)
The orders were given following the fracas that broke out at the National Assembly on Thursday where members of the House of Representatives were confronted by armed security personnel who threw canisters of teargas at the speaker and other lawmakers to stop them from accessing the parliament building.
The speaker and some of his colleagues who supported him beat the security cordon and later held a brief plenary thereby stopping some members in their tracks who had gathered protected by scores of Police and DSS operatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against the leadership of the House.
Sources revealed that the Police chief gave the order for Tambuwal’s arrest after a meeting with Vice President Namadi Sambo.
“I can confirm to you that the order for his arrest has been given today (Friday). The signal from the IG’s office specifically directed the FCT and Sokoto State commissioners of Police to serve Tambuwal with notice of invitation to the force headquarters and if he resists, he should be arrested immediately, “the source revealed.
“The involvement of Sokoto CP was because the Speaker was sighted in Sokoto on Friday where he picked the All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship form for the coming elections. It was assumed that he was out of Abuja as such other police divisions were involved in the matter.”
Sources at the meeting in Villa indicate that the Vice President chastised the Police boss for the failure of his men to prevent Speaker from entering the national assembly premises.
However, Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Emmanuel Ojukwu, when contacted on the development, denied that IGP gave express orders for Tambuwal’s arrest, but said investigators handling what he described as a ‘criminal act’ would determine who to invite for questioning.
“There is no express order by the IGP to arrest any particular person involved in the criminal act. It lies with the investigators to determine who should be quizzed and/or prosecuted, as the case may be,” he explained in a text message sent to Daily Trust.
Note: The earlier reference to the National Security Adviser (NSA) in the story has been found to be incorrect.