On the Mace theft

On April 18, 2018, some minutes pass the 11th hour, the Nigerian Senate was in a form of frenzy. The chamber was invaded, breaching all the heavy security apparatus we see at the National Assembly day and night. Senators and staffers scamper for safety.
It was like a Hollywood movie. You’d be wrong to think Abubakar Shekau had led his boys to invade the Red Chamber, neither was it an attack by the dreaded herdsmen. This sad development has led many to begin to ask if it was right for a senator who is on suspension to be at the Chamber or attend plenary. Senators and other concerned citizens have not stopped condemning the invasion and theft of the Mace, with many describing it as an attack and an assault on Nigeria’s democratic process.
A fourth Republic Senator, Joseph Waku (Benue North West, 1999-2003), who had suffered the same fate of being suspended from the Senate for one week said “He (suspended senator) can only stay in the office. He can go to his office but not the chamber.” His point was validated by National Assembly rules, which state that a suspended Senator should not have access to the Senate chamber or attend committee meetings. Senator Victor Lar, who represents Plateau South in the Senate, believes there is an official complicity in the whole scenario leading to the invasion.
“There are at least five different gates to pass before entering the chamber. I have no doubt that there is official complicity in this matter. Senator Shehu Sani described the act as “morally and ethically wrong” saying “the Senate is not a place for that kind of thing”.
A former Nigerian Ambassador to Cameroon and present National Vice Chairman of PDP, Emmanuel Njiwah, said he strongly believes there is more to the issue than meets the eye. Although Senator Omo-Agege has come out to say he had no hands in the melee that led to the disappearance of the Mace, he has however refused to respond to the question about why he was at the Senate chamber on that fateful Wednesday?
With Omo-Agege denying any role in the theft of the recovered Mace, and accusing fingers has continued to point at him as the planner and executor of the stolen Mace, Senate on its own part is yet to come out with a position on the issue, other than describing the action “as an act of treason, as it is an attempt to overthrow a branch of the Federal Government of Nigeria by force, and it must be treated as such.” Nigerians have continued to call on the leadership of the Senate to expedite action on the matter and ensure no sacred cow is spared in wielding the big stick of the law on all involved in the act. Concerned Nigerians, who have registered their displeasure over the act, believe anything below severe punishment for the perpetrators through legal process, would set a bad precedence for the Nigerian democracy, and also serve as a model to unleash future attacks on Nigerian democratic institutions. Adeniyi Salako, Abuja