Uk’omu Igala condemns attacks on House of Assembly

Uk’omu Igala, the umbrella organization for all socio-cultural groups in Kogi-East, has condemned the invasion of the Kogi State House of Assembly Complex in Lokoja by suspected political thugs.

The organization further condemned the assault on the member representing Igala Mela Odolu Constituency in the Assembly, Friday Sani Makama.

In a statement signed by the National Leader of the group, MajorGeneral Patrick Akpa (rtd), the organization described the attack as an “affront on democracy” and an “intimidation of a constitutional arm of government” in Kogi State.

The group added that such affront should not be allowed to endure if the North-Central state must witness the highly-needed political and economic developments.

Major-General Akpa said, “the House of Assembly is the political body that represents the over two million people of Kogi State. They are the voices of the ordinary indigenes of the state who voted them to make law and serve as a check on the executive arm of government. This intimidation and assault on members of this constitutional body is a direct attack on all the people of Kogi State, a criminal act that should not go unchallenged.”

Though the state government has called for a probe of the attack, Uk’omu Igala Organisation urged the Presidency and the National Assembly to wade into the situation “because an insult on democracy in any constituent part of Nigeria is an insult on the country’s democracy in totality”.

The statement said, “the Acting President should set up a high-powered panel to investigate the mayhem carried out in the full glare of law enforcement agencies in Kogi State. The allegation that policemen drafted to the House of Assembly complex to forestall the foretold violence stood akimbo while thugs laid siege on the legislature, brutalized Makama, a duly elected lawmaker, and disrupted the activities of the Assembly should also be looked into.”