Bauchi Assembly Crisis Worsens As Hoodlums Attack Members, Vandalise Vehicles, Buildings

MEN of the Bauchi Police Command, on Monday night took over the state House of Assembly complex to forestall a total breakdown and order in the state.

This is coming few hours after some suspected hoodlums attempted to burn down the complex on Sunday.

Earlier on Monday, another set of hoodlums, attacked some members of the assembly in their guest house, smashing cars and destroying properties in their sight.

The hoodlums, numbering about 50, stormed the guest house, where the lawmakers were holding a meeting, a few meters away from the Government House, and tried to chase them away.

The incident was a twist in the leadership crisis rocking the Assembly.

Narrating his experience, one of the lawmakers who was injured in the attack, Honourable Ado Wakili representing Burra Constituency said, “We were inside having a meeting when we suddenly heard noise and people banging on the gate. As we rushed out to see what was happening, the hoodlums rushed in holding guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.

“All of us scampered for safety and in the process many of us, including me, were injured. You can see 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.”

Another member of the Assembly, Kawuwa Shehu Dam- ina condemned the action, saying that it was uncalled for.

He said he was baffled such was happening even when it was not yet electioneering campaign time.

The security guard of the guest house told journalists that the hoodlums came on motorcycles holding different dangerous weapons.

“We all had to run for our dear lives. That was how they gained entrance into the building and did the damages.”

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.

He described it as uncalled for at a time efforts were on to amicably resolved the leadership crisis rocking the Assembly.

He called on security agencies to immediately arrest those involved in the criminal act.