In a bid to forestall the incident of November 20 when armed policemen invaded the National Assembly, the Chief Sergeant-at-Arms have deployed his men to man all entry points into the complex.
It was reliably gathered that the policemen attached to the massive complex who originally man such points were deployed to only the outer gate. This became necessary considering the fact that parliaments all over the world have Sergeant-at-Arms in charge of security.
It was also revealed that henceforth the police under whatever guise can no longer barricade the National Assembly.
A source told Vanguard that “the role of the police is supposed to be supplementary and it is not mandatory but what happened that day was a complete negation of the office of the Sergeant-at-Arms.
“We will not allow such a thing to happen in this parliament again, it was an abuse and a slap on us.”
The Chief Sergeant-at-Arms was seen deploying his men at about 10.30 am to the five entry points that were barricaded by the police and hooded men on November 20.
In all these points, no policeman was seen except the outer gate where about 15 policemen stood guard.
On November 19, 2014, before the police invasion of NASS, hooded men in black uniforms and policemen padlocked the five entry points into the National Assembly without consulting the lawmakers.
The following day the Speaker of the House of. Representatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal, and his fellow lawmakers were teargassed and humiliated by the police who barricaded the main entry point.