Senate wades into alleged assault of lady by Senator Abbo

The Senate on Wednesday constituted a seven-man ad-hoc committee to investigate alleged assault of a woman at a toy shop in Abuja by Senator Elisha Abbo.

The Adamawa North Senator, said to be the youngest in the chamber, was observed in a 10-minutes video footage recklessly slapping a lady shop keeper.

The offence of the lady appeared to be that she cautioned the Senator not to attack the shop owner who Abbo claimed insulted him.

Senator Abbo claimed that the shop owner tagged him a drunk.

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who set up the committee, named Ebonyi North Senator, Samuel Egwu, as chairman.

Other members of the committee included Senators Oluremi Tinubu, Stella Oduah, Dauda Jika, Danladi Sankara and Mohammed Sani.

The constitution of the probe committee followed a Point of Order by Senator Uba Sani.

Kaduna Central Sani told his colleagues that the image of the Senate had been dented by a video that went viral about a Senator slapping a lady repeatedly.

The Senate, he cautioned, must take decisive measures to redeem his battered image.

Sani claimed to have received over 110 calls from within the country and from friends across the shores of Nigeria.

He insisted that the Senate should take urgent steps to address the assault allegation.

Sani said, “As soon as the story was published online, I started receiving calls from Nigeria and abroad. A decisive action should be taken to show to the world that we respect the right of other Nigerians no matter how lowly placed they may be.

“The Senate needs to do something. Our image is at stake. If we do this, we will be able to redeem the image of the Senate. Mr. President, we must act right away without delay.”

The Senate President however interjected and cautioned against drawing conclusions before investigation of the allegation.

“Let us not conclude yet. Whatever we saw still remains an allegation. It has not been proven. We need to give everyone involved, including our colleague, a fair hearing. We should be guided. Both sides must have fair hearing.”

Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti South) in his contribution also cautioned against hasty conclusions.

He noted that no matter the allegation, Senator Abbo and the other side involved should be given the opportunity to state their case.