Senators storm National Hospital in search of Dino Melaye

• As IGP faces Senate today

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi and Musa Adamu

The senate yesterday adjourned plenary to enable the senators pay a solidarity visit to the embattled senator, Dino (APC, Kogi West) at the National Hospital Abuja, even as the lawmakers, one after the other, lamented the high handedness of the security operatives which they said is becoming a threat to the survival of democracy.
In the Hospital, only five senators were allowed to see the senator in the emergency care unit of the National Hospital, including the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, senators Mao Ohuabunwa, Suleiman Nazif, and Bala Ibn N’Allah, who met him and came out without talking to the journalists.
This was sequel to a motion moved to that effect by Senator Sam Anyanwu (PDP, Imo East), in which he also requested that the IGP be summoned for questioning by the Senate at plenary session.
Senator Anyanwu in the motion predicated on Orders 14 and 15 of the Senate Standing Rules, said the treatment being given to Senator Melaye by the Police on alleged illegal possession of ammunition, was an affront to democracy since the matter was already in court.
“All of us as senators are demeaned by the way Senator Melaye is being handled by the Police since Tuesday morning, when he made himself available for arrest.
“It would be very wrong for us to allow things continue this way. The Inspector General of the Police must be summoned to explain why a serving Senator is being treated like a common criminal”, he said.
In a related development, barring further changes, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, will today by 11:am, appear before the Senate during plenary session to answer questions over the handling of senator Melaye’s case, following the directive given to that effect by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
Saraki, while ruling on the motion, disclosed that all efforts he made to get across to the IGP since Tuesday morning was not successful, with his calls not being picked by the IGP.
“This action is s threat to democracy. This is not what we should be spending our energy on. I have not been able to reach the IGP since Tuesday morning as regards Senator Melaye’s arrest by the Police. To me the IGP’s action is an act of disrespect to this Institution. This kind of altitude must stop “, he said.
Earlier before Saraki’s remarks, Senators like Chukwuka Utazi (PDP Enugu North), Isa Misau (APC Bauchi Central) , Shehu Sani (APC Kaduna Central), Ubali Shittu (APC Jigawa North East), Ibrahim Gobir (APC Sokoto East), Mao Ohuanbunwa (PDP Abia North etc, in their contributions lampooned the executive for not following due process over the matter .