A state of disorder erupted at the National Assembly when two senior staff members were roughly handled by the Department of State Service (DSS) in Abuja, this past Friday.
The incident began when John Nnadi, a member of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), and Deputy Director Chris Odoh, attempted to pass through the gate connecting the new Senate building and the White House. According to eyewitnesses, the staff members presented their ID cards for identification, but the DSS officers demanded further identification.
In response, the DSS officers stopped their progress and began to physically handle them. Attempts to prevent the DSS officers from manhandling the staff were unsuccessful as more officers joined in.
One eyewitness reported that the DSS officers forcibly escorted Nnadi and Odoh to their office located within the National Assembly Complex. This action drew the attention of passersby and staff from the United Bank for Africa (UBA), the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, and journalists from the Senate Press Centre.
Outraged by the humiliating treatment, other staff members from various offices at the White House, including the Senate’s Mace bearer, gathered outside the DSS office, threatening to escalate the situation if their colleagues were not released.
However, the situation was defused when Alex Annagu, the DPO in the National Assembly, and Mrs Ilobah Isabella, the Deputy Clerk to the Senate (Legislative), quickly arrived at the scene to soothe the tense atmosphere.
