Akintola condemns IGP over NASS invasion

From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Adeniyi Akintola, has condemned  the action of the  Inspector General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba on the last Thursday’s invasion of the National Assembly by armed Policemen.

Akintola, who stated this while speaking with Journalists in Ijagbo, Oyun local government area of Kwara state on Sunday said that the National Council of State should take the blames for using what he referred to as “fire brigade approach” in ratifying the appointment of Abba as substantive IGP.

He noted  that the IGP was not matured enough to head the Force stressing that  the commotion at the National Assembly and the way the Police handled it, would endanger the nation’s nascent democracy .

Akintola stated that there are sensitive positions that would require the government to subject those that would be manning them to psychological and psychiatric test to ascertain the state of their mental capability.

He said, though the IGP might be acting under instruction, he ought to have been guided by the nation’s constitution and the Police act.

 He added that the policemen’s action was an assault on the foundation of democracy, which should not be tolerated by all lovers of democracy.

 Speaking on the 2015 general elections, Akintola appealed to politicians to safeguard the nation’s democracy, stressing that any attempt to derail the system would spell doom for them.

“Politicians should safeguard this democracy. Many of us were detained. I was detained five times under General Sanni Abacha’s regime. Many of the politicians of today never knew the geography of any detention camp. They have never been detained, they didn’t fight for it (democracy), they were not on the street. So they will not appreciate what many of us went through. By their conduct, they should not derail this democratic experiment. If they do, they will regret it”, he stated.