…Lawmaker rushed to the hospital – Subair Mohammed
Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, on Monday, condemned in strong terms the invasion of the Hallow Chamber by the officers of the DSS.
The lawmakers spoke in succession during plenary while calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene and bring the officers in question to justice.
At about 10 am, armed operatives of the DSS stormed the Lagos Assembly and broke into the Hallow Chamber to stop the plenary session.
Meanwhile, the DSS raises a force alarm, claiming that there is bomb inside the chamber
It took the combined efforts of the legislative staff and lawmakers to chase the armed security personnel put of the chamber.
Both the legislative staff and lawmakers declared their support for the first female speaker while expressing confidence in her leadership.
The prime mover of the motion, Hon. Kehinde Joseph also moved that the DG of DSS must be called to answer for the invasion.
Spokesman of the House, Hon. Stephen Ogundipe described the invasion and harassment as a rape on democracy.
One of the lawmakers, Hon Kazeem Olayinka representing Mushin 2, was pushed down and rushed to the hospital for emergency care following the invasion.
Reacting to the invasion, the Lawmaker representing Ajeromi-Ifelodun 2, Hon. Sabur Oluwa described the invasion and harassment as unnecessary and unprofessional.
He said, “The harassment is unnecessary and unprofessional on the part of the state security. I’m still shivering. We are elected by the people to protect the interests of the people. If we have a speaker we believe is not protecting our interest and of the people. We have decided to elect another that would serve the people. That shouldn’t be a problem. This is what democracy is all about. I don’t think this calls for harassment and assault on democracy.”
The lawmaker representing Ikorodu 1, Hon Gbolahan Ogunleye called for the investigation of the invasion.
He said, “I’m sad today. I have never thought a day like this would come when armed men would invade Lagos Assembly. I implore the DSS DG to investigate this. I also call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and bring the perpetrators to justice. This is indeed a rape on democracy.”
Lawmaker representing Kosofe 2, Hon Femi Saheed described the forceful entry into the Hallow Chamber as an abuse of legislative rules and procedure.
He said, “It is an abuse of legislative rules and procedure. What we are here to do is to debate on issues that would move the society forward but what happened today is an aberration. We pride ourselves as a House that is above all standards but what happened today suggests that we need to call on the government to tell us if they have the right to tell us who to lead us. What happened today is an eyesore.”
Hon. Abiodun Tobun representing Epe 1 condemned in totality the invasion of the security operatives.
Hon. Afini Olanrewaju Sulaiman, representing Lagos Island 2, described the situation as an unlawful act, and added that his arrest with some of his colleagues by DSS which took place 30th of January was also due to the Remover of Mudashiru Obasa
He said, “I condemned in totality the activities of security operatives. It is the voice of the people and not the government with barrel of gun. Supremacy belongs to the people and that is what we are doing in the chamber. What happening this morning is an aberration democracy. We should not allow anarchy and harassment.
It is the activities of overzealous officers who want to impress some interests. We were given a mandate to represent the people and nobody should dictate how we operate. Nobody has the right to dictate to us what to do
When we chose the last speaker, Nobody intervened so when we decided to change leadership it was nobody’s business. If anybody feels aggrieved such a person should head to court and not for some officers to invade the chamber. This is an embarrassment to democracy, the National Assembly and the Federal government”
