INSECURITY! Gunmen Attack House of Assembly During Plenary Making Members Run for Their Dear Lives.
The speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Paul Emeziem, alongside some of the state’s lawmakers on Thursday narrowly escaped being shot by unknown gunmen during plenary.
According to reports, the shooting began shortly after the suspension of six members including the Minority Leader, Anyadike Nwosu, who is of PDP extraction.
During the shooting, the speaker was hurriedly bundled out of the premises by his personal aides, Daily Post reports.
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A source who spoke with the news agency said the speaker and some members of the House were attacked by unidentified gunmen after six members of the House were suspended over alleged unparliamentary activities.
The source disclosed that two PDP members and four APC members were suspended indefinitely.
“The member representing Ideato-north state constituency, Arthur Egwim was removed as the Chief Whip of the Assembly and replaced by Obinna Okwarra of Nkwerre state constituency.
“Other lawmakers suspended were Philips Ejiogu of Owerri-north state constituency, Uche Ogbuagu of Ikeduru state constituency, Kennedy Ibeh of Obowo state constituency, Dominic Ezerioha of Oru-west state constituency, and Onyemaechi Njoku of Ihitte-uboma state constituency.
“The announcement was made by the speaker, Rt. Hon. Paul Emeziem,” the source added.
It was later gathered that the speaker suspended the lawmakers indefinitely for what he called “unparliamentary conduct”.
One of the suspended lawmakers, Ibeh, who spoke in an interview with Punch said that “we got a message today from the clerk of the house that there would be an emergency meeting today (Thursday) having on Wednesday adjourned till July 14.
“We got to the complex by 10am but we didn’t see the speaker. We kept waiting until when the speaker came and we moved into the chambers and signed the attendance register. The speaker immediately without recourse to the rules of the house announced the dissolution of all standing committees of the house and removed the Chief Whip of house and announced, Obinna Okwara, in his place.”
“The speaker said that the decision was taken at the executive session of the house, whereas there was no executive session. A lawmaker, Onyemaechi Njoku, stood up on the special privileges rule of the house, but the speaker shut him down. I also rose to talk but he didn’t allow me to talk.
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“He abandoned the rules of the house and imported his own. Other lawmakers raised concerns but the speaker didn’t care. In the end, he announced that he had suspended the six of us for unparliamentary conduct.”
On his next line of action after the suspension, Ibeh said “talking about political resolution, I am a member of the All Progressives Congress and the governor is the leader of the party in the state.
“I will wait for an opportunity to speak with the governor so that I will tell my own side of the story. But talking about legal redress, that is not within my consideration for now. I have suffered many political persecutions in the parliament so I have taken it as one of those persecutions.”
In other news, the gunmen who stormed Bethel Baptist High School, Damishi in Kaduna State, abducting students have rejected the bags of rice as well as other food items offered by the school.
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The gunmen had earlier demanded foodstuffs from the school shortly after the abduction,
According to the school’s vice-Principal Wakili Madugu, he received a call at 7.30am on Tuesday shortly after the students had been abducted and was assured of their safety.
Speaking in an interview on Nigeria Info Abuja 95.1fm on Thursday Madugu said the abductors had demanded food items with which they would feed the students.
He further stated that the bandits said authorities had blocked their access to food and therefore demanded that the school and the parents make food items available.
“They said we should bring 10 bags of imported rice, 20 bags of local rice, 20 bags of beans and then 10 cartons of Maggi (seasoning) and then 10 kegs of oil as well as two bags of salt. These were the items they demanded.”
The VP however complained that they could not provide all the food items demanded by the abductors because they had exhausted almost all their foodstuffs ahead of the school’s closure this week.
According to him, some of the foodstuffs were gotten but the gunmen rejected them.
In his words, “The school had no more food because we were preparing to close the school in less than four days. So, the food items were not up to what they (abductors) were demanding. So, we sought assistance from some of the parents and we did our best.
“As of today, we have nine bags of rice, one sack of beans, two cartons of Maggi (seasoning), two kegs of palm oil and a bag of salt. They told me to bring the items yesterday (Wednesday) and so I called them around 7pm and they asked me how far.
“I told them this is what we have on hand and they started insulting me, threatening me and they switched off the phone. That means what I have is not enough.”
On what efforts the school had made to ensure that students were not abducted, the Vice-Principal noted that members of the Joint Task Force had been guarding the school and they actually engaged the bandits in a gun duel on Tuesday but they were overpowered by the superior fire power of the assailants.
He added that the bandits did not come in vehicles but actually marched the students out of the school.
Madugu added that the kidnappers had not yet made any demand for a ransom.
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INSECURITY! Gunmen Attack House of Assembly During Plenary Making Members Run for Their Dear Lives.
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