The Nigeria Police says it has recovered the mace of the Senate forcefully taken away by hoodlums suspected to be loyalists of suspended Senator Ovie Omo-Agege  under a flyover located near the City Gate in Abuja.

The mace which is the symbol of authority of the nation’s Upper Legislative Chamber was carted away on Wednesday by the suspected thugs after they disrupted the Senate’s plenary being presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

The unfortunate incident led the Senate to direct the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris and the Director of the State Security Service (DSS), Lawan Daura to recover the Mace within 24 hours.

In a statement released in the early hours of Thursday by the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters in Abuja, ASP Aremu Adeniran, the Police said the IG also directed the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Commissioner of Police to immediately tighten security at the National Assembly to forestall a future recurrence.

“Sequel to the invasion of the Senate Chambers of the National Assembly, Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 18th April, 2018 by some suspected thugs who disrupted the Senate Plenary Session and carted away the Mace of the Red Chambers, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Ibrahim Idris, immediately instituted a high-powered Police Investigation and Intelligence Team coordinated by the IGP Monitoring Unit of the Force and further directed a total lock-down of the Federal Capital Territory with intensive surveillance patrol and thorough Stop and Search operations at various Police checkpoints with a view to arresting perpetrators and possible recovery of the stolen Mace.

“The teams engaged in massive raids of identified criminal spots/flashpoints, stop and search operations, visibility and confidence building patrols, intelligence gathering which forced the suspected miscreants to abandon the Mace at a point under the flyover before the City Gate, where a patriotic passer-by saw it and alerted the Police,” Adeniran said in the statement.

While commending motorists in the FCT metropolis for their support, cooperation and timely information during the rigorous stop and search operations, the Police said a discreet investigation into the ugly incident was ongoing to bring all those behind the theft to justice.

Meanwhile, the recovered Mace has been returned to the National Assembly. At about 11:50 am, a Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Habila Joshak handed over the Mace to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori.