Abuja IDPs protest as police lay siege to Melaye’s residence

Vicious-looking and armed mobile policemen yesterday laid siege to the Abuja residence of Senator Dino Melaye. Melaye, who chairs the Senate Committee on FCT, was taken off a flight to Morocco after boarding, and detained by officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport during the early hours of yesterday.

Our correspondent gathered that the lawmaker was informed that his detention was necessitated by a directive issued by the police force stating that he (Dino) was on the watch list of INTERPOL. However, the lawmaker, who challenged the Immigration officials, demanded to be shown the watch list. Following the failure of the immigration officials to provide the watch list, our reporter gathered that the lawmaker was taken away in a vehicle after waiting for the police for over three hours.

Barely a few hours after Melaye’s departure from the airport, about 40 armed policemen were stationed around the senator’s house – Number 11 Sangha Street, Maitama, Abuja. Led by the Commissioner of Police, Sadiq Bello, they also barricaded the street with police patrol vehicles and a Toyota Hiace Bus marked ABUJA RSH 193 TP.

Speaking to journalists at the scene of the siege, one of his lawyers, Frank Tietie, condemned the siege on the lawmaker’s house. He said: “What we are experiencing today is that the house of Dino Melaye is currently under siege by Nigerian Police men without appropriate legal instruments to justify holding the Senator to siege. “

We consider this kind of armed siege unjustifiable, because there is no legal instrument or no court order to that effect. I will challenge Abuja IDPs protest as police lay siege to Melaye’s residence playing ground.” Badaru, who said President Muhammadu Buhari had no business in running the government “except for the care of our people,” added that APC’s mission was to rescue the country.

He said: “God is with us and God will continue to support with us because of our clear vision, our good heart and our love for the people of Nigeria. We all know that our leader has no business in running this government except for the care of our people. Most of us you see in APC are in the party today to serve our people. Our mission in APC is to rescue the country from near collapse we saw around 2014 and 2015.”

the police to offer us the proper legal instrument, the court order that justifies this invasion, holding this honourable Nigerian to ransom.” Tietie, in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, also called on the Senate to suspend plenary until the Inspector-General of Police “gives a directive for the withdrawal of his men from the residence of the lawmaker.” “His lawyers have written to the Chief Judge of the federal high court saying his (Dino) safety is not guaranteed in Kogi state. “According to Dino, he has escaped two assassination attempts.

There is a police headquarters in Abuja. He is safe there. He can go there and tender himself for questioning. His right to life must fi rst and foremost be guaranteed.” However, when contacted, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Anjuguri Manzah, said he had “no brief on the incident.” Meanwhile, some senators of the upper chamber of the National Assembly paid a solidarity visit to the residence of the embattled lawmaker.

Among the lawmakers were Senators Philip Aduda, Senate Minority Whip, Biodun Olujimi, his Deputy, Rafi u Ibrahim, Attai Aidoko, and Isah Mi IDPs protest In a related development, internally displaced persons (IDPs) across several camps in Abuja yesterday stormed Melaye’s residence in droves to protest what they described as his “continued harassment by the police.”

The protesters who carried placards amidst angry chants said they were ready to die alongside the embattled lawmaker if the police refused to retreat. According to them, the lawmaker was among the few persons who cared about their plight and welfare on monthly basis despite being abandoned by the federal government.

Leave a Reply