The Kogi West senator, Dino Melaye, has explained how he escaped from the premises of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Maitama, Abuja last week Thursday following a siege by some police officers.
Mr. Melaye at the senate plenary on Wednesday said some ‘angels’ took him out of the premises to avoid police Special Anti-Robbery Squad who were deployed to the location to arrest him.
In a tweet update from his hideout inside the court building, Mr. Melaye claimed that Governor Yahaya Bello, his state governor and political rival, was responsible for his latest ordeal. The governor has since denied the allegation.
While contributing to a motion on a recent fracas involving Mr. Bello and senator representing Kogi Central, Ahmed Ogembe, the lawmaker narrated what transpired while he was allegedly being hunted.
“On the 1st of March, I was arraigned by the party I worked for. I was arraigned by the government I helped to install. I appeared before the court and I was granted bail. Having been granted bail, I was quickly alerted that there were over a hundred policemen from SARS outside the court waiting to arrest me. When they took pictures of them to come and show me, even if you were going for the head of Shekau, you wouldn’t have prepared any better.
“I was in that court for hours and they laid siege for hours. Every car coming in and out of the court were being checked. Somehow because I serve a living God, the angels of the Lord took me out of that court unnoticed and unhurt. They laid siege for more than five hours after I was resting on my bed.”
Mr. Melaye said the security operatives ought to follow a convention already in practice in pushing for his arrest.
“We have a convention in this country, that when security agencies are interested in interrogating, investigating and inviting any senator, they write the Senate President to provide such senator. Why would they demean the integrity of the Senate of the Federal Republic? And lay siege for the senator of the Federal Republic as if you want to arrest a common criminal!”
The lawmaker wants the federal government to declare a state of emergency in Kogi State.
“We can call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to declare a state of emergency in Kogi to serve as deterrence to other governors who thinks power starts and ends with them.”
The possibility of meeting the senator’s desire of a state of emergency is, however, very slim as Kogi is not suffering from any major violence or crisis beyond the ability of the state government and current federal security agencies.
Since the failed arrest, the police are yet to provide any official reasons for trying to arrest Mr. Melaye.
PT
