Melaye trapped as police, DSS lay siege to his residence (updated)

Dino Melaye, lawmaker representing Kogi west senatorial district, is currently stranded as policemen and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have laid siege to his residence in the Maitama area of Abuja.

Melaye had earlier tweeted about the incident, saying over 30 armed security personnel have surrounded his residence.

Over 30 heavily armed fierce looking mobile police men have just stormed My residence in Maitama, Abuja.
All roads leading to House has been condoned off, as heavy mobile police men blocked entry & exit of the road. They currently laid siege on in and around The house.

— Senator Dino Melaye (@dino_melaye) April 23, 2018

In the morning, he was detained at the Abuja airport and blocked from travelling out of the country.

When TheCable visited the lawmaker’s residence in the afternoon, the security operatives were seen on different parts of the streets.

They prevented his colleagues who trooped to the place to sympathise him from entering into Melaye’s house.

Among the senators there were Abiodun Olujimi from Ekiti; Philip Aduda, federal capital territory (FCT), Isa Misau from Bauchi and Atai Idoko, Kogi.

TheCable gathered that Melaye was inside his residence at the time the security men arrived.

The senator has been having a running battle with the police in recent times. In March, he was declared wanted in connection with a murder case.

The police had said some crime suspects confessed that he supplied arms to them, an allegation the senator denied.

Also in March, the federal government filed a suit against him for allegedly framing Edward Onoja, chief of staff of Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state, whom he had accused of being behind an assassination attempt on his life.

In a suit pending before a high court of the FCT, the federal government, through the office of the attorney-general of the federation (AGF), said the police found out that Melaye’s claim was false.