Police bars Plateau lawmakers from sitting, take over assembly

The leadership crisis rocking the Plateau State Assembly has forced the police to take over the Assembly and sealed off the complex.

The tussle over who should be recognised as the authentic Speaker has since last week been between Ayuba Abok and Yakubu Sanda, which has divided the house into two camps. Some youths had staged a protest over the matter at the assembly on Monday before Abok was whisked away by the police while trying to preside over proceedings.
The Punch in a report on Wednesday stated that the police had sealed off the assembly complex until further notice following an order from the above.
It quoted security sources in Jos as saying that the AIG in charge of Zone Four comprising Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa State commands, Mustapha Dandaura, gave the order to seal the Assembly complex after visiting Jos to assess the situation on the ground.
A source that confirmed the development said that the decision was to prevent the crisis from degenerating into a full-blown breakdown of law and order.
The source said, “The AIG visited Jos yesterday(Tuesday) for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation. In his wisdom, he said the best thing to do for now is to seal off the Assembly until further notice.”
A member of the Assembly, Timothy Dantong, who also confirmed the action by the police said that the decision had been communicated to the two contending groups in the Assembly.
Dantong who represents Riyom State Constituency, said, “The impression they have is that we are having a crisis. So, they (police) decided to come and seal the Assembly complex.
“We are aware that the AIG gave the order that none of the factions should come into the Assembly complex for now until everything is sorted out.
“We are also aware that he is going to mediate in the matter and have a meeting with us to hear the grievances and see if we can resolve the matter before normal plenary will start again to avoid any crisis.”