Armed soldiers have been deployed in
strategic parts of Nasarawa State following protests against alleged
plot by members of the state
House of Assembly to impeach Governor Tanko
Al-Makura.
Saturday PUNCH correspondent,
who went round Lafia, the state capital, saw armed military personnel
stationed at the Assembly Complex, the Government House and other
strategic places.
This is happening as the governor said he has yet to receive any impeachment notice from the House of Assembly.
The lawmakers, who began the process to
remove the governor on Monday, published a notice of impeachment in some
national newspapers on Wednesday when they could not access the
governor to serve him the impeachment notice
Al-Makura, who spoke through his Special
Assistance on Public Affairs, Abdullamid Kwara, said the governor had
yet to receive the impeachment notice.
To the state Chairman of the All
Progressives Congress, Philip Shekwo, the manner in which the
impeachment notice was served was not constitutional.
Shekwo said, “As far as the party is
concerned, we have not received any impeachment notice as was claimed by
the lawmakers. They have alternative means of serving the notice, but
it is not how it is stated in the Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria.”
However, the state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Yunna Iliya, told Saturday PUNCH that
he could not comment on the issue until after two weeks because the
constitution stipulated that if the governor did not respond within two
weeks, the law would take its course.
However, a member of the state House of
Assembly, Alhaji Othman Bala representing Keffi-East called on his
colleagues to withdraw the impeachment notice.
Bala, who spoke to our correspondent in
Lafia, said, “Looking at the state of insecurity confronting the
country, the legislators should put the interest of the people above any
other thing.
“The lawmakers love the state and will
do everything their power to ensure peace. It is on the basis of this
that I appeal to my colleagues to sheathe their swords in order to move
the state forward.
“No one is perfect; we should forgive
some of the lapses noticed with the governor with the belief that he
would learn from them in the overall interest of the state.”
Meanwhile, the Nasarawa State
Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris, on Friday denied that people were
killed during the clash between the Eggon and Gwandara people on
Thursday.
Idris, who briefed journalists shortly
after a joint security committee meeting comprising the police, army,
the State Security Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps in
Lafia, however, said 20 persons were arrested during the clash.
Stressing that one house and vehicle
were vandalised during the violence, he disclosed that a retired police
officer was arrested in connection with the crisis.
The police commissioner said, “Two
people were injured and one of them sustained laceration in his stomach.
He was taken to Agu private hospital by the military and discharged
immediately after treatment.
“The second injured person was taken to M and D Clinic and also treated.”
Normalcy has, however, started returning to Lafia, Mararaba and Keffi, the town hit by protests on Wednesday and Thursday.
Business activities have also resumed in the towns as people were seen going about their activities.
Source:Punch News
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