Aminu Alhassan, the Commissioner of Police in Bauchi State, has revealed why he ordered the arrest of Yakubu Shehu Abdullahi, the lawmaker representing Bauchi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
WITHIN NIGERIA previously reported that the command had declared the lawmaker wanted for alleged criminal conspiracy, public disturbance, and culpable homicide.
In response to the allegation made by the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, that the Police did not follow due process in ordering his arrest, Alhassan told reporters in his office on Wednesday that the lawmaker is not immune to arrest based on criminal allegations leveled against him.
He went on to say that after the violence erupted in Duguri, the governor’s hometown in Alkaleri Local Government, killing one person and injuring 15, the state police launched an investigation.
The Commissioner said;
When we heard that somebody died and all accusing fingers were pointing at four prominent persons in that group, we had to start looking for them, honestly, one of the fastest way of getting any information, is to first talk to the stakeholders. I told the APC that I will need at least two major stakeholders in the state and they assured me that they were coming.
Late in the evening, I had to contact them through my phone, even sent message to them that these are the people I needed because allegations were going on, I even sent pictures of allegations being made from left and right and we, the Police, cannot rely on allegations without clearing it.
Later, I was told by the stakeholders I contacted that they could not get to Honourable Yakubu, so I told them clearly that I am not waiting for them to bring Yakubu and Bakaro to me, I am going out to arrest them. I told them not to feel slighted, I then sent my operatives to sneak into every nook and crannies where these people are, but on hearing that I was looking for them, they all ran out of Bauchi state.
This is the time for digital tracking and I discovered how he left Bauchi, where he went, before finally reaching Abuja. We don’t have that time to go to Abuja to look for him because we are occupied with the preparations for the forthcoming election.
So, we made it known before the public that he was wanted, we went to his family to drop a letter which before they accept it they called him and he told them to collect the letter.
CP Alhassan said;
He is fully aware, we don’t need to go to the National Assembly and even the Assembly saying that we need to inform them before we order for his arrest, no, this is a criminal issue that everybody is pointing at a particular person. We don’t need to go to that extent.
For all my stay in the Police as an Officer and as a Commissioner of Police, this is my third Command I have handled, there was never a time that a House of Representatives member or senator has immunity.
To cite a similar example of this, a lawmaker in Kano state was arrested for a similar allegation, I never heard that they went to the National Assembly to seek for National Assembly approval to arrest him, so Honourable Yakubu has no immunity to arrest.