Following the arrest of embattled lawmaker, Senator Dino Melaye, yesterday morning, another attempt by the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) to abduct him to Kogi state was foiled by passers-by.
Our correspondent gathered that the lawmaker, who was initially arrested and detained at the SARS facility situated on Area One expressway, Abuja, was told that he was being taken to court at about 1:15pm. Melaye, it was learnt, agreed to go to court with the armed operatives, but a twist ensued on the way around the Area One roundabout, when they attempted to take him to Kogi state. The lawmaker, at this point, resisted all attempts to divert the vehicle and raised alarm loud enough to attract the attention of passers-by.
One of the passers-by, Peter Babayemi, who spoke to journalists, said their attention was drawn to the lawmaker’s plea for help, and immediately the SARS vehicle was surrounded by a sea of passers-by. He added that the operatives were overwhelmed by the number of passers-by and abandoned Melaye and drove off to avoid being lynched. Babayemi said: “What happened was that we were at the Area One roundabout when we saw the SARS vehicle carrying someone. We saw the person struggling and shouting on top of his voice. So, many people now gathered to see what was happening.
When we looked close, we saw it was Dino Melaye. “Immediately, we started shouting that we know this man who is fighting for Nigerians and that there is no way they are taking him anywhere. Since some of us had read the news about what was happening to him, we said we won’t allow them take him anywhere. That was how we rescued him from them and they drove away when people became too much.”
During the course of investigations into the whereabouts of the lawmaker, our reporter gathered that he was being taken to Zankli Hospital, at the Mabushi District, where he is presently receiving medical attention. Journalists, who stormed the hospital, sighted the unconscious body of the lawmaker being wheeled from an ambulance on a stretcher into the emergency unit of the hospital.
Barely an hour after being admitted to the hospital, several truckloads of mobile policemen were spotted barricading the hospital’s entrance. When our reporter visited the hospital at about 8:30pm, policemen from the FCT Command, numbering almost 80, had flooded the premises, and conducted intensive search on vehicles entering and making their exit from the hospital. Among the lawmakers, who visited the hospital, were the Senate Committee Chairman on Police Affairs, Abu Ibrahim, Baba Kaka Garbai, who chairs the Committee on Rules and Business, Mustapha Sani, Vice Chairman, Committee on Anti-Corruption, and Attai Idoko, Chairman, Committee on Sustainable Development Goals. Our reporter also sighted an ambulance belonging to the Police Force, which was positioned to convey Melaye after he was re-arrested last night.
