‘Hoodlums’ steal mace from Nigerian Senate
ABUJA: Three men burst into Nigeria’s Senate on Wednesday and snatched the legislature’s ceremonial mace, in an incident the body’s spokesman blamed on a suspended lawmaker.
The men entered the chamber, picked up the mace and left with it in a swoop that lasted less than two minutes.
The upper house of parliament resumed 15 minutes later after replacing the mace with a spare, the spokesman said.
Decisions taken in the Senate cannot be approved without the mace, an ornamental staff symbolising the authority of the legislature.
A giant statue of a fist holding a golden mace stands outside parliament, making it one of Nigeria’s most potent government symbols.
“Some hoodlums led by suspended senator Ovie Omo- Agege walked into the Senate plenary and seized the symbol of authority of the upper legislative chamber – the mace,” Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, spokesman for the upper house, said.
Witnesses said the macesnatchers drove into Senate premises in the company of Omo-Agege and passed through security unchecked.
“This action is an act of treason, as it is an attempt to overthrow a branch of the Federal Government of Nigeria by force, and it must be treated as such,” Abdullahi said.
The police later said they have recovered the mace.
“A police search forced the suspected miscreants to abandon the mace at a point under the flyover before the City Gate, where a patriotic passer-by saw it and alerted the police.” – Reuters