Security beefed up in Nasarawa over impeachment moves •Youths take to streets ...PDP is playing ‘God’ —Tsav

NASARAWA State police command has beefed up security in the state over the development arising as a result of the planned impeachment of the governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura. When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ismaila Numan, said the police were able to disperse a group of protesters, who took to the streets to express their grievances on the development, before the situation could get out of hand. According to him, no life was lost as rumoured and no property destroyed, as officers had been deployed in strategic locations to forestall any breach of the peace. “We have also intensified our patrol to all nooks and crannies of the town to ensure security of lives and property,” he added. Street urchins, popularly known as Almajiris and some pupils of a primary school within Lafia, the state capital, had taken to the streets to protest the impeachment of the governor. The Nigerian Tribune gathered that also in Keffi and Mararaba, some youths were out to show their grievances, but were dispersed by the security operatives. The protesters, who were said to be chanting solidarity songs in support of Al-Makura, then set bonfire in strategic areas, including Emir’s Palace Road, UAC Road, as well as Doma Road, all within Lafia. It will be recalled that the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Honourable Ahmed Musa, on Monday, directed the clerk, Mr Ego Maikeffi, to issue an impeachment notice to the governor. He was alleged to have misappropriated public funds in the last three years. Twenty lawmakers out of 24, signed the impeachment notice. Although, the offences have not been made public, credible sources at the Assembly complex told the Nigerian Tribune, on Wednesday, that the 16 impeachable offences against the governor bordered on gross misconduct, extra budgetary expenses, which were mostly on the issue of SURE-P, 2012 Flood Allocation Grant from Federal Government. Also included, among others, were the SUBEB scandal, payment of salaries to commissioners of NASIEC and travelling expenses of the wife of the governor, Hajia Salamatu Al-Makura. Meanwhile, former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, has warned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led administration in the country to stop playing ‘God’. He said it should allow the opposition to thrive in Nigeria’s democracy, as strong opposition would produce better and efficient government. The retired police boss, who decried the spate of impeachment of state executives, accused the leadership of the PDP of playing ‘uncivilised politics’. Tsav, in a statement issued and made available to newsmen in Makurdi, on Wednesday, noted that such impeachment process was borne out of greed and bitterness. The social crusader, who expressed disgust over the development in Nasarawa, said the purported impeachment process initiated against Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State, signalled a dangerous omen which was against the peace and security of the nation. While warning the PDP-led administration in the country to desist from its nefarious activities;Tsav noted that the proposition of man could be disposed by God. He described as unjust and unhealthy, a system, where a whole state elected a person as governor and a few people, out of selfishness and lust for power, would sit and remove him. Such action, according to him, connotes craziness.