*Gun running allegation against me work of Gov Yayha — Melaye
*Media, Senate not clearing office in this matter; go to Police – Nigerians
“If he is not afraid of anything, let Melaye go and give those answers he is giving either on the floor of the Senate or on the pages of the newspapers to the police in their office. Or when did the Senate become a law enforcement agency or when did the media become a law enforcement agency? The frustrations that Nigerians have since beginning of Buhari government remain the product of your insincerity as lawmakers. The same you guys do not want Magu, the same you do not want Buratai, the same you do not want Hameed Ali, the same you do not want Itse Sagay, all those great anti-corruption, anti-insurgency brains that President Muhammadu Buhari put together as building block to clean Nigeria of criminality, corruption and all kinds of terrorism. But you want to investigate the executive yet you don’t like anybody to ask question about your crimes or misdeeds so much that you tried to give yourselves impunity doing that. Who do you think you are? Please go and answer the police invitation on this matter and clear yourself of the latest allegation of illegal possession and supply of weapons. If they charge you to court, so be it. After all, the court is the last hope of the masses,” the respondent advised Dino Melaye.
The Nigeria Police, yesterday, paraded two suspected political thugs with two AK-47 and five pump action guns allegedly working for the lawmaker representing Kogi West senatorial district, Senator Dino Melaye.
The two suspects — Kabiru Saidu aka Osama, 31, and Nuhu Salisu aka Small, 25, were paraded by the Police Force Headquarters Public Relation Officer, Mr. Jimoh Moshood, at the Kogi State Police Command in Lokoja.
According to him, they were arrested after a gun battle with a Police team, which lasted for several hours on January 19.
However, reacting to the allegations, Senator Melaye said it was an orchestrated lie by the governor and the Police to shut him up, and that he had never seen the arrested suspects.
Meanwhile, parading the two kidnappers alleged to have been supplied guns and ammunition by Senator Melaye, Moshood said the Senator had been ignoring Police invitations to clear his name from the allegation.
Moshood said the two suspects, Osama and Small, were members of a notorious gang behind numerous kidnapping and robbery cases in the state.
He said: “Working on actionable intelligence, the Kogi State Police Command personnel and Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, FSARS, trailed and arrested the two suspects after a gun battle with the Police team on January 19 at Ogojueje in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State.
“During investigation, they confessed to several kidnappings and robberies in different towns across the state and its environs for which they have been on the wanted list of the Police for more than two years.
“During interrogation, they further confessed they were political thugs recruited by some mischievous politicians in Kogi to cause mayhem, disruption of peace, and destruction of lives and properties in the state.”
‘Saidu fingered Dino Melaye’
Continuing, the Police spokesman said: “They also confessed to belong to the gang of a dreaded and vicious kidnap-for-ransom gang under a gang leader whose whereabouts is being investigated.
“According to the gang leader, Kabiru Saidu, he has been working as a political thug for a politician, who introduced him to Senator Dino Melaye and they met at Airport Road, Abuja inside Senator Melaye’s car in December 2017.
“The suspect further confessed that Senator Dino told him to start working for him as a political thug and they should recruit and train more thugs to work for him in preparations towards 2019 general election to enable him challenge his political opponents and disorganise Kogi State.”
Moshood said the suspects further confessed that Dino handed over a bag containing one AK-47 rifle, two pump action and N430,000 for them to share.
He said a case of criminal conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms had been filed by the Police against the two suspects and Senator Dino Melaye.
Gun running allegation against me work of Gov Yayha — Melaye
Meanwhile, Senator Dino Melaye in his reaction to the allegations, said it was a frame-up and an orchestrated attempt by the state government to discredited him.
The Senator said he had never seen the suspects in his life and did not have anything to do with them.
Melaye said the move was an attempt by the Kogi State government to shut him up and prevent him from speaking the truth about governance in the state.
The Senator noted that he contested and won elections into the House of Representatives and the Senate without working with political thugs, saying the plan had been exposed about six weeks ago.
Melaye’s words: “This is an attempt to shut me up and stop me from speaking the truth. But they have failed. It is an orchestrated lie by the governor and the Police.
“I have tweeted about it six weeks ago; that they want to set me up because I got a tip-off from government house when they met to set me up.
“You can see the conflicting statements by the criminals. I heard one said I gave two AK-47 and pump action, while the other said I gave only one rifle and that I gave N430,000 to train militia, and that I met them on Airport Road in December 2017.
“But they didn’t give a date and time. I don’t know anybody. I have not involved myself with any thug. I became member House of Representatives and Senate without thug. If this is an attempt to shut me up they have failed.”
Media, Senate clearance not police clearance in this matter – Nigerians
In the meantime, Nigerians have asked Senator Dino Melaye to go and honour the invitation of the Nigerian Police if indeed he believes his hands are clean over the crimes.
One respondent, who spoke under strict condition of anonymity, said, “What has angered me since the beginning of this 8th Senate is that, each time a Senator has a case to answer, be it criminal or corruption, he has refused to submit himself to the law enforcement or easily to the court for trial. We have seen how Senators took the seats of court rooms to ensure they frustrate trials of Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu when they were both arraigned for forgery of Senate rules. We saw how they entered court rooms with security men heavily armed until the judge ordered the security out of his court room. We have seen how they did a lot of cover up to themselves when Customs exposed some of them for importation crimes. This same Dino Melaye had been at the forefront of all of the cover-ups. Now on allegation of illegal possession of firearms and supply of same to criminals, the police have been inviting you but you have chosen to speak through either Senate plenary or media. Who tells you the Senate or media is any clearing office in this matter? Nobody can tell you that. The only clearing office on this is the police office. Go and answer them if your hands are clean.
“If he is not afraid of anything, let Melaye go and give those answers he is giving either on the floor of the Senate or on the pages of the newspapers to the police in their office. Or when did the Senate become a law enforcement agency or when did the media become a law enforcement agency? The frustrations that Nigerians have since beginning of Buhari government remain the product of your insincerity as lawmakers. The same you guys do not want Magu, the same you do not want Buratai, the same you do not want Hameed Ali, the same you do not want Itse Sagay, all those great anti-corruption, anti-insurgency brains that President Muhammadu Buhari put together as building block to clean Nigeria of criminality, corruption and all kinds of terrorism.
“But you want to investigate the executive yet you don’t like anybody to ask question about your crimes or misdeeds so much that you tried to give yourselves impunity doing that. Who do you think you are? Please go and answer the police invitation on this matter and clear yourself of the latest allegation of illegal possession and supply of weapons. If they charge you to court, so be it. After all, the court is the last hope of the masses,” he advised Dino Melaye.
