Sophia Michaels
The Plateau State House of Assembly, has again been sealed by the police on Wednesday, May 31.
A member of the state House of Assembly, Gwottson Fom from Jos South Constituency confirmed the development to PUNCH in Jos on Wednesday morning.
Gwottson who condemned the action of the police said that the development had prevented the state lawmakers from reconvening for the plenary scheduled for Wednesday.
Lamenting the situation, Gwottson said, “We held our plenary yesterday (Tuesday) without any problem, and we considered some important bills and passed some motions for the good of our people. We intend to reconvene today (Wednesday) to continue with our legislative functions only for the police to barricade the complex.
“As lawmakers, we don’t know what the problem is this time around that will make the police seal the state Assembly complex again and stop lawmakers from performing their duties. So, we are going to address a press conference to draw the attention of the world to what is happening in Plateau State because the police is trying to kill democracy in Plateau.”
The PUNCH reports that for about two months, the Plateau State House of Assembly was under lock and key at the instance of the police high command whose personnel daily manned the Assembly complex.
Since the police sealed the Complex about two months ago, the lawmakers have not been able to hold plenary until last Tuesday,
barely 24 hours after Caleb Mutfwang succeeded Simon Lalong as the new governor of the state.
Meanwhile, the police explained that it sealed the Complex to forestall a breakdown of law and order in the wake of the leadership crisis rocking the Assembly.
The lawmaker representing Jos East Constituency, Ayuba Abok, and his counterpart from Pengana Constituency, Yakubu Sanda, had been engaged in a legal battle over the seat of the Assembly’s Speaker.
When contacted on the latest barricade of the Assembly complex shortly after Tuesday’s plenary, the spokesman for the state Police Command, Alabo Alfred said, “The police will not be dragged into the politics of the state. Our duty is to maintain law and order, and that is what we are doing at the state Assembly complex.”
