Police Invade Rivers Assembly, Fire Live Ammunition at Lawmakers

The Rivers Police Command on Thursday in Port Harcourt disrupted the resumed sitting of the state House of Assembly. The Commander of the Port Harcourt Area Command, Mr Aliyu Garba, told Newsmen that the command had not received an order from the court to re-open the assembly complex. Garba said the police did not allow anybody into the complex because there was no order for the police to do so.

He said the role of the police was to avert the breakdown of law and order in the society. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the police sealed the complex after the crisis that hit the assembly on July 9 and 10. An FCT High Court On Wednesday ruled against the taking over of the functions of the state assembly by the National Assembly. Reacting to the situation, the Deputy Speaker of the assembly, Mr Leyii Kwanee, condemned the continued closure of the assembly in spite of a court ruling to re-open it. He said as lawmakers, “we were voted to represent our people and we were ready to defend the mandate given to us by our constituencies”. “We want to assure you that there is no going back; we are resolute and we are committed to this cause. “If need be, we are ready to sacrifice our lives for this cause; we are committed to defend the democracy of Rivers people,” he said. (NAN)