Senator Abbo not seen since Wednesday amid fears that he may still be in police custody

ADAMAWA North Senatorial District's lawmaker Senator Elisha Abbo missed all of this week's sitting in the National Assembly amid fears that he may still be in police custody after he was invited to come and answer questions about a recent violent assault.

In March, Senator Abbo repeatedly slapped a nursing mother who was at the till in an Abuja sex shop where he and three ladies had gone to purchase several items. His assault was captured on CCTV and over the last week, it has been released on social media, attracting widespread condemnation.

As a result of the outcry, earlier this week, he was invited by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command to come an answer questions about the assault. Upon arriving at the police station, Senator Abbo was taken into custody and interrogated according to FCT police commissioner Bala Ciroma.

Since then, the senator has not appeared in public and it is feared that the police may still be holding him. Senator Abbo, who moved the motion for the nomination of Senator Ali Ndume for the position of the senate president during the inauguration of the ninth National Assembly on June 11, was conspicuously absent at Wednesday's busy plenary session.

Before the matter went viral, on Tuesday, he had been very active in the senate freely interacted with colleagues. He also contributed to a motion moved by Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe on the activities of drug cartels at the nation’s airports.

There are now strong indications that the leadership of the National Assembly has not forgiven the 41-year-old senator for nominating Senator Ndume for the position of senate president. During the elections, Senator Ndume stood against Senator Ahmad Lawan, the choice of the ruling All Progressives Congress who was eventually elected senate president.