The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on Thursday shocked his colleagues when he revealed that some thieves broke into the car of a former senator and stole money.
He lamented that the multi-million naira Closed- Circuit Television installed in the National Assembly had not been functional.
Ekweremadu stated this while responding to a point of order raised by Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who complained about a burglary case in her office during the Yuletide break.
The deputy Senate president, who presided over the session, sympathised with Tinubu and noted that the incident in her office was not an isolated matter because similar incident happened in the House of Representatives.
He said, “Unfortunately and regrettably, this is not an isolated matter. I understand that a similar thing happened in the office of one of our colleagues in the House of Representatives.
“More worrisome was the report I got during the (Christmas) break of one of our former colleagues, who came to do a transaction in the National Assembly. He left his car with some money inside it.
“By the time he came back, the car was broken into and the money removed. He reported to the management (of the National Assembly). They decided to look at the CCTV footage. Regrettably, the CCTV was not working.”
Tinubu had lamented that the incident in her office was giving her serious concern.
She said, “We were closed for the Christmas break on December 21, 2018. However, my office had been closed on the 7th of December, as I had constituency engagements and town hall meetings scheduled for the period.
“On Wednesday, 9th January, 2019, my staff upon resumption noticed some anomalies, prompting an inspection. It was discovered that one HP laptop computer, CCTV camera box, one Smile Internet device and copies of Laws of the Federation had been carted away.
“Subsequently, a report was lodged at the police post of the National Assembly. The occurrence is worrisome because this is the time we are all going for elections and right now, I don’t feel safe in my office.”