The police had also early last week posted a video on its Facebook wall to justify its invasion of the National Assembly and also portray itself as a victim of the lawmakers’ lawlessness. The video shows Tambuwal in his car while one of his aides runs to the gate to ask that it be opened for the speaker. When the security men did not open the gate, another person, a lawmaker, went to the gate and asked the security men to open the gate. Then Tambuwal got down and was quizzed by a policeman who pretended not to know the speaker. Even after introducing himself to them and asking to see the most senior officer among them, the policemen refused to open the gate until the lawmakers forced their way in, with some scaling the fence.

• Mark: Delayed for one hour from entering the National Assembly complex

The video did not show how the lawmakers and the speaker were teargassed. In the accompanying post to the video, the police had asked: “Is there any justification for these? Why would anyone use a car to shove/push a uniformed policeman performing his lawful duty? Why would any group of persons rough-handle a uniformed policeman performing his lawful duty and also refuse to submit to security screening into a government building? Why would any group of persons destroy government property paid for with tax payers’ money?”

But rather than sympathise with the law enforcement agency, many of those who responded to the video rather lambasted the police.

Abba had during the ill-fated public hearing of the House committee on Police Affairs last week maintained the same line of argument, which many eyewitnesses and those who have seen the elaborate video recording and photographs of the police invasion will not think twice to describe as cocktail of lies. The IG told the lawmakers that the police took over the complex following information that Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and APC supporters were going to attack the legislature and other public offices on 20 November. He claimed that the leadership of the opposition party had a day earlier blocked the Force Headquarters in Abuja, “where they made uncomplimentary statements and threatened to do worse [things] in the days ahead”.

Abba claimed that members of APC led by Amaechi had also said they would subsequently attack the Presidential Villa and the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission. In the circumstances, Abba said, with realisation that that the parliament in Burkina Faso was similarly attacked recently, he had to order the massive security deployment to safeguard the National Assembly.

The IG also claimed that his men did not stop lawmakers from going into the chambers, but only asked for their identification and allowed those who complied into the premises. “The procedure was orderly until the arrival of Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal and his men with quite a number of suspected thugs to disrupt the security arrangements. The police management and particularly my own person, I was traumatised by what I saw happened to police officers that day. What happened was unprecedented worldwide; policemen were physically beaten and disobeyed, among other things that happened,” Abba said unashamedly in obvious exaggeration.

The police chief also maintained that all those the police restrained from entering the National Assembly were ‘thugs’. But this was another fabrication as all those barred by the police from entering the Assembly complex and who had to climb the fence to go in were House members, as can be seen from pictures of the incident published in many newspapers. He also claimed that “a tear-gas exploded” rather than admit that his men directly threw teargas at lawmakers after they evaded their barricade.

But eyewitnesses have contradicted this claim with the assertion that the canisters were thrown clearly in the direction of Tambuwal. In their accounts, the first canister thrown by the police landed near the speaker as he was walking towards the arcade, while the second canister was shot in his direction as he was climbing the stairs. The third canister was released by the police when the speaker was at the entrance to the reception. By that time Senator Mark came out of the chambers to see what was happening outside and was also affected by the teargas.

Failed Coup

Also, contrary to the claims by thepolice chief, there was no publication of the APC threat to invade Aso Rock, INEC or the National Assembly in the reports of the protests of members of the opposition party to the Force Headquarters. Sources close to the party told this magazine last week that the claim by the police chief was another of his inventions as what Governor Amaechi and other party chiefs said during their protest at the Police Headquarters in Abuja was well reported.

But members of the House insisted that they had to force their way into the chamber to prevent Abba from helping to foist a speaker on them. Reports indicated that some PDP loyalists, with the support of the police had attempted to take hold of the mace the day before the invasion, but they were prevented by the Clerk.

But with the police allowing the deputy speaker into the chamber while loyalists of the speaker were kept out, there was the fear that some PDP members may go ahead to install an alternative speaker, thereby foisting a fait accompli which may take months to reverse through the usually slow court system on the House.