Udom Emmanuel, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, reportedly disrupted the sitting of a faction of the state House of Assembly on Tuesday, November 27, 2018.
Governor Emmanuel reportedly arrived the complex of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly accompanied by Onofiok Luke, the speaker of the House, in Uyo to disrupt the sitting by the five members of the All Progressives Congress.
Immediately, Emmanuel entered the premises, gunshots were fired by security operatives who accompanies him to the complex.
According to the witnesses the self acclaimed speaker, Nse Ntuen was harassed by security personnel, his vehicle was damaged, and he escaped a mob action by a crowd of Peoples Democratic Party members.
Five lawmakers of Akwa Ibom State Assembly, whose seats were recently declared vacant by the speaker of the House of Assembly, Onofiok Luke had in the early hours of Tuesday stormed the Assembly complex with thugs and heavily armed policemen.
The leader of the gang, Nse Ntuen, is a lawmaker whose seat, a federal court declared vacant two week ago.
They were seen with a mace at the legislative building. It is unclear it was the real mace or a counterfeit.
1. BREAKING: Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly under siege again.
The former members of the State House of Assembly are back to the Assembly complex this morning. with heavily armed @PoliceNg & thugs.
We call on all Nigerians to rise in condemnation of this heinous crime pic.twitter.com/wyGnUFEnIP— Official PDP Nigeria (@OfficialPDPNig) November 27, 2018
Reports say that the five lawmakers, who recently defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, chased out staff of the House of Assembly. During the mayhem, Kufre Okon, the chief press secretary to Onofiok Luke, the speaker, was assaulted.
The five lawmakers proceeded to commence a session in which they suspended 21 People’s Democratic Party members of the State Assembly, impeach the speaker of the house, and then commence impeachment proceedings on Governor Udom Emmanuel.
Femi Fani-Kayode, a PDP chieftain and former aviation minister, has condemned the move. In a tweet, he said, “What is going on in Akwa Ibom right now is unacceptable. The speaker of the State House of Assembly cannot be impeached by 5 lawmakers, violent thugs and fake policemen and the governor will not be impeached either. I call on all lovers of democracy to resist this APC tyranny.”
What is going on in Akwa Ibom right now is unacceptable. The Speaker of the State House of Assembly cannot be impeached by 5 lawmakers, violent thugs and fake policemen and the Governor will not be impeached either. I call on all lovers of democracy to resist this APC tyranny.
— Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK) November 27, 2018
The suspended APC lawmakers had locked themselves inside the chambers for the proceedings.
The People’s Democratic Party shared photos showing the activities of the APC lawmakers and their supporters and photos of the proceedings. However, there are not photos of Governor Emmanuel arriving at the State Assembly Complex.
Breaking News! #AkwaIbomUnderSiege:
Sen. Godswill Akpabio’s @OfficialAPCNg hired thugs are on rampage at the AKHA.
Motorists barred from the State Assembly Complex and cars set ablaze by the thugs. Nigerians should hold Sen. Akpabio & the APC responsible for these actions pic.twitter.com/Y6m1KIKFLI— Official PDP Nigeria (@OfficialPDPNig) November 27, 2018
