We Won’t Arrest 19 Ekiti APC Lawmakers – Police The Ekiti State Command of the Nigeria Police force has refuted allegations that it had instructions to arrest 19 All Progressives Congress(APC) lawmakers that held plenary in a secret location last friday. The command’s Public Relations Officer(PRO), Mr Victor Babayemi stated this in a telephone chat with journalists yesterday. He said nobody had instructed the Police to arrest Speaker Omirin and his 18 colleagues for holding a separate plenary. Omirin had disclosed in a statement on Friday that his faction held a secret plenary in an undisclosed location last Thursday, where Hon Dele Olugbemi, the Speaker of the pro-Fayose lawmakers, was suspended and the receipt of the 2015 appropriation bill reversed, among other matters discussed at the plenary. Later, Omirin raised the alarm that Fayose was allegedly planning to order his arrest and other APC lawmakers, describing the move as unconstitutional and illogical. Babayemi however declared that the command won’t allow itself to be dragged into the factional crisis bedeviling the assembly. The police spokesman posited that the matter was purely a political issue and that the command would continue to monitor the unfolding drama closely without meddling or supporting either of the factions in the interest of peace. Maintaining that the command had been professional since the crisis started on November 20 when Omirin was purportedly impeached by the PDP lawmakers, Babayemi disclosed that his men would only step in if the lawmakers conduct themselves in a manner that infringes on the laws of the land. “This command has been handling the assembly’s crisis in a more professional way since it started. We are not in any way interested because it is purely a political issue. “Nigeria Police Force is not a political organisation, so we are neither being instigated to arrest them nor to harass them. It is a political matter and it has to be settled politically. “But as a law enforcement agency, we owe it a duty to protect the lives and property of the citizens and we won’t shy away from this responsibility. “I want to emphasize that the command will not hesitate to wade into the matter if any of the factions is comporting itself in a manner that could cause violence or threat to the relative peace in the state,” he said.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 11:11:29 +0000
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