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From Priscilla Ediare, Ado Ekiti
24 hours after a new Speaker emerged, the Ekiti State House of Assembly has been shut over a rumoured planned invasion by some unidentified thugs.
Armed policemen were stationed at strategic locations in the House to prevent the purported invasion and breakdown of law and order.
Assembly workers were also sighted thronging out of their offices to their respective homes.
Rt Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, representing Ikole Constituency 1, was on Tuesday elected as the new speaker of the assembly after defeating Mrs Olubunmi Adelugba from Emure Ekiti.
Some of the workers who spoke with newsmen under anonymity explained that there was an order from the State Police Headquarters that workers should vacate the assembly in the interest of peace, saying some people were planning to attack the House of Assembly.
The newly elected Speaker, during a telephone chat with reporters, said there was no crisis in the assembly.
According to him, “The leadership of the police command in Ekiti informed us this morning that they had verifiable intelligence about some hoodlums coming to attack the assembly complex and to avoid breakdown of law and order, hence the need for their presence and they have promised us to conduct an investigation on the matter and report to us before the close of work today.
“I want to encourage my colleagues and staff of the assembly to be patient and bear with us, normalcy will soon return to the House,” Aribisogan said.
Reacting, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, DSP Sunday Abutu, said they took prompt action by placing restrictions to prevent the breakdown of law and order.
Abutu told the members of the public not to entertain fear, saying the deployment was to safeguard people’s lives and government property over ominous signs that security was about to be breached at the Assembly’s complex.
The police spokesman said: “We acted on security alert we received that some people were planning to invade the assembly, and we owe it a duty to safeguard the lives of the people and public utilities.
“We can’t wait or tarry and allow the lives of the staff of the assembly to be threatened by any means. So, we took proactive measures by deploying our men there to secure the assembly complex.
“Our people shouldn’t see our action as a big deal. No course for alarm. We are on top of the situation.”
