The Validatory session of Anambra State House of Assembly ended in confusion yesterday as a team of operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) stormed the Assembly premises to arrest a member-elect.
The development caused serious panic in the Assembly as the team of four armed operatives stormed the premises in three operational vehicles and bundled the member-elect for Nnewi North constituency, Mr Onyekachukwu Ike into one of their vehicles to whisk him away.
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The incident happened while a valedictory thanksgiving mass for the seventh Assembly was still going on at the Assembly Complex.
The operatives had just bundled the member-elect into one of their operational vehicles and were about to zoom off with him when security personnel attached to this Assembly quickly blocked and locked the exit gate.
The acting clerk of the Assembly, Mrs Esther Aneto and other senior staff lamented that the DSS operatives did not inform them or even the police personnel deployed to the state Assembly complex before trying to whisk away their guest. The members-elect had gone to participate in the state assembly Validatory session.
One of the DSS operatives, however, explained that they had a court order to arrest the member-elect for Nnewi North constituency.
It took the intervention of the speaker of the state assembly, Dr Uche Okafor and the deputy governor, Dr Onyeka Ibezim who came to represent the governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, before the member-elect was released.
In his speech, the speaker lamented that the legislature lost two of its members to the cold hands of death during the four years tenure. They are members representing Aguata I and Awka-south 1 constituencies, Dr Okechukwu Okoye and Dr Nnamdi Okafor respectively.
He, however, stated that the lawmakers passed 50 people -oriented bills within the period.
Urging the incoming members of the state 8th Assembly to give all necessary support to the Soludo administration to ensure that the administration moved the state forward, Speaker Okafor expressed gratitude to their various constituents for the support they gave to their respective representatives in the Assembly.