After two days, police vacate Akwa Ibom Assembly

The Nigeria Police have ended their two-day siege of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly.

The new development comes less than 24 hours after the Senate President, Bukola Saraki ordered the police to vacate the premises and allow legislators to access their chambers.

“The parliamentarians should still have access to the chambers there, or in any part of the country where we have a parliament. The police should vacate but still provide the necessary security,” Saraki said during the senate plenary on Thursday.

The State Assembly had been under siege by armed police personnel since Wednesday following a crisis that erupted on Monday.

The rift in the House started when the Speaker, Onofiok Luke, declared the seats of five lawmakers who had defected from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) vacant, a situation which later led to alleged thugs disrupting plenary.

The Senate president also ordered an investigation into the sealing of the Assembly, after the issue was raised by Senator Bassey Akpan, representing Akwa Ibom North-East.