There was pandemonium at the Legislative Council Complex in Ini Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State on Thursday as thugs invaded the chambers, disrupting an ongoing sitting of the councillors.
Some of the lawmakers sustained injuries while scampering for safety. A female councillor, Ekomobong Isaac, was seen bleeding before she was evacuated to the hospital.
Journalists who came to cover the plenary were not spared as one of them, Emmanuel Ufon, was assaulted and his cameras confiscated.
Speaking after the incident, the Leader of the 8th Ini Legislative Council, Donald Usoroh, described the attack as unwarranted, alleging that it was sponsored by the Council Chairman, Inibehe Umah.
Usoroh recalled that trouble started when the legislators wrote to the chairman, inviting him to give account of the council’s monthly income and expenditure, in order to ensure accountability and good governance.
He said rather than the chairman responding to the request, he resorted to intimidation and violence by allegedly sending thugs to disrupt the scheduled plenary.
Usoroh maintained that the legislators were not even planning to impeach the chairman as they know the due protocols to follow if they want to do such but only wanted him to give account of huge funds he had collected from Governor Umo Eno for the development of the local government.
He, therefore, urged Governor Eno, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and other stakeholders to wade into the matter to forestall a full blown crisis in Ini LGA even as he reaffirmed their commitments to serving the people
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