Amnesty International calls for Senator Cliff Abbo’s arrest
Right group, Amnesty International (AI) has called on Nigeria Police Force to investigate Senator Elisha Abbo representing Adamawa North for alleged assault on staff of an adult shop he patronizes in Abuja.
The right group made the request in its official Twitter handle @AmnestyNigeria yesterday.
According to AI, the video of the alleged assault by the senator is widely available for the police to act.
The organisation wrote on Twitter, “Amnesty International is calling on Nigeria Police @PoliceNG to investigate Senator Elisha Abbo (Adamawa North) for alleged assault on staff of an adult shop he patronizes in Abuja. Video of the senator assaulting women is widely available for police to act: #Nigeria @NGRSenate.’’
A video footage of the incidence had earlier been trending online showing the Nigeria’s youngest senator physically assaulting a woman at an adult toy shop in Abuja.
According to PREMIUM TIMES online Senator Abbo, descended on the woman after she pleaded with him not to physically assault the ship-owner whom the senator had accused of insulting him. He said the shop owner called him a drunk.
PREMIUM TIMES exclusively obtained the video of the assault, which occurred on May 11 — nearly three months after Abbo became a senator-elect and a month before he was sworn-in on June 11.
The report said the attack happened as an armed mobile police officer looked on, and instead made attempt to arrest the victim.
The assault was reported on May 14 at the Maitama Area Command Headquarters on Nile Street, but the police told the victim to go look for Abbo’s telephone number or they would not be able to do anything about it, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
The victim of the assault and the storeowner declined comments for this story, saying they were afraid there could be a violent backlash from the senator. The victim’s lawyer also declined comment.
It said witnesses and other sources familiar with the matter told PREMIUM TIMES their accounts of what happened. They all declined to be identified, citing fears for their safety.
According to the report, Abbo, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had entered the shop at about 6:00 p.m. on May 11, a Saturday.
It was gathered that the senator walked in with three young women to purchase adult toys.
The report also said that shortly after they began shopping for the toys, one of the three girls brought in by Abbo started throwing up. She vomited multiple times, prompting the shop-owner to remark that the woman should have vomited outside and not inside her shop, especially since she was not a child.
Abbo, who was said to be agitated by the sudden illness of one of his girls, was said to have accused the shop-owner of poisoning the store’s air-conditioner.