By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi
Some political thugs in large numbers on Monday, stormed the Bauchi Legislative Guest House where the legislators were holding a meeting along Sir Kashim Road, Bauchi, where they smashed cars, and turned everything in the building upside down.
It was an ugly incident which came barely 24 hours after the hoodlums tried to set the Assembly House Complex on fire
Sunday’s attempted arson had forced the state police command to deploy its personnel to the House of Assembly in a bid to prevent a breakdown of law and order.
It would be recalled that the parliament has been hit by a leadership crisis after 22 aggrieved lawmakers passed a vote of no confidence on the leadership of the House and asked them to resign or face impeachment.
A legislator representing Burra State Constituency in the Assembly, Hon. Ado Wakili, was said to have been injured in the brawl.
Wakili told journalists after the incident, “We were inside having a meeting when we suddenly heard noise and banging at the gate. As we rushed out to see what was happening, the hoodlums rushed in with guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.
“All of us scampered for safety and in the process many of us including me were injured as you can see on my face just below my eyes. They really turned everything upside down. By the time we came out, they had smashed all our cars and the windows of the house”.
Also speaking, a member representing Darazo Constituency in the House, Hon. Kawuwa Shehu Damina condemned the brigandage, saying it was uncalled for, wondering that it is not yet campaigns period that such a scenario is happening.
The lawmaker said, “In a situation like this, violence cannot solve the problem, it will only aggravate it. All that is required is for us to sit down and dialogue in order to have a solution to the problem. It is simply a misunderstanding among members of the House”.
Corroborating the member, a security guard of the guest house told Journalists that the hoodlums came on motorcycles as if they were going for a war holding different dangerous weapons saying that, “We all had to run for our dear lives, that was how they gained entrance into the building and did the damages”.
Also reacting to the development, the Special Adviser to the Bauchi State Governor on State and National Assembly Liaison, Sani Muhammad Burra dissociated himself and the Executive arm from the attack.
Burra described it as uncalled for and unnecessary at a time efforts are on to amicably resolved the leadership crisis rocking the Assembly, and called on security agencies to get those involved in the criminal act arrested immediately.
Meanwhile, security operatives have taken over the Bauchi State House of Assembly complex following Sunday failed attempt by suspected arsonists to set the complex ablaze when the crisis rocking the assembly took a dangerous dimension.
The suspected arsonists have attempted putting fire on the Assembly complex but for the quick intervention of security agencies.
A combined team of security, comprising men of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), the Department of State Security (DSS), and the Nigerian Army later took over the complex.
