As doctors at the Yola Specialist Hospital battled on Thursday to save the life of Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State after he was involved in a plane crash, a band of thugs invaded Government House, Jalingo and chased out his deputy, Alhaji Garba Umar.
The invasion, which is now being probed by the State Security Service (SSS), is strongly suspected to be part of a plot to stop Umar from succeeding Suntai in the event that the governor did not survive.
At the centre of the SSS probe is a senator said to have instigated the attack.
Governor Suntai was widely rumoured to have died in the crash until the Presidency and the Ministry of Aviation, in separate statements, said he did not.
Umar, who was only sworn-in on October 5, was forced out of the Government House by thugs allegedly acting on the orders of the Senator.
Umar’s predecessor, Alhaji Sani Abubakar, was himself stopped from seeing the governor in the hospital by security agents.
Governor Suntai was transferred from Yola to the National Hospital, Abuja yesterday, wearing an oxygen mask. He was heavily bandaged.
A highly placed source who spoke on the Government House invasion, said: “Following the rumoured death of the governor, some thugs loyal to a serving senator invaded the Government House at about 11pm and unconstitutionally ejected the Deputy Governor from the place.
“They were shouting that under no condition would they allow the Deputy Governor to succeed Suntai who was presumed dead.
“Worried by the threat to his life, the Deputy Governor was ferried by security aides to the state office of the SSS in Jalingo.
“He slept at the SSS office overnight to avoid being killed. But a reinforcement of security around the Deputy Governor was effected on Friday to prevent further harassment against him.”
The source added: “We are investigating the alleged involvement of a serving senator in the illegal attack on the Deputy Governor.
“If the senator’s culpability is established, we will effect his arrest and trial.
“So far, it has been established that the senator has been at loggerheads with the governor. The suspect was opposed to how the immediate past Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sani Abubakar, was impeached by the Taraba State House of Assembly based on ‘cooked up’ allegations of gross misconduct levelled against him by the state lawmakers.”
Suntai was moved to the National Hospital, Abuja at about 2.08 p.m yesterday under tight security.
He was driven into the hospital premises in a State House Medical Centre Ambulance with registration number SH 576.
He was bandaged from head to toe and had an oxygen mask on his face.
He sat on a reclining chair in the ambulance.
A total of seven vehicles were in the convoy, many of them occupied by security operatives.
By then, reporters and photographers had positioned themselves at the entrance of the Accident and Emergency Unit.
But as soon as the security operatives sighted the newsmen, they diverted the ambulance to the back of the hospital.
At about 3.10 pm, President Goodluck Jonathan arrived the hospital to personally assess the governor’s condition.
He told reporters as he departed that the governor’s condition had stabilised.
He said: “First and foremost, we have to thank God for what has happened. Plane crash is not something you can just wave off. We are quite happy that the Governor is still stable and feeling well.”
“The doctors are working very hard on him. I believe that by God’s will, he will soon come out of it. But he is still in the hospital. No doubt about that. And the professor/ CMD is here. He can just say one or two things. Being a Governor, people are worried. They want to know his state of health.”
The Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital, Prof. Bala Shehu, said: “Just like the President said, he is very stable. Obviously, in the first 24 hours of any injuries, there are worries. There are very few worries. There are very few. So, we will continue to observe him for the first 24 hours.
“There is no need to do any operation on him. He is very stable. Given what happened, we are actually satisfied with the situation at the moment.”
However, a source in the hospital said the governor had neurological disorder from the crash.
It was gathered that four neuro surgeons were mobilised to assist Prof. Bala Shehu who is also a neuro surgeon to treat the governor.
Throwing light on neurological disorder, a neuro surgeon at the Cedarcrest Hospital, Abuja, Dr Biodun Ogungbo, said: “Neuro trauma indicates mostly brain or spinal cord injury and is often associated with lifetime morbidity. So, early active management is crucial.
“The initial care of patients with acute brain or acute traumatic lesions of the neck (cervical spine) is of paramount importance. Neurologic function of the brain and cord levels can be adversely affected by excessive motion. Ideally, treatment should start at the site of trauma.
“Safe and careful extrication, safe transportation and immobilisation in solid neck braces are crucial. Safe transportation is essential. These patients cannot and should not be moved without adequate protection and care.
Airway management and maintenance of spinal immobilization are important factors in limiting the risk of secondary neurological injury.
“Patients with brain or spinal cord injuries may have difficulty with breathing due to this and other injuries such as chest trauma. Early effective and efficient management is crucial to survival.
“Transporting patients to hospitals with the capability to manage these cases is vital and information about these hospitals should be widely available.
“Early diagnostic and clinical evaluations are important in determining the severity of the injury and making plans for subsequent management.
“Timely and appropriate imaging studies using x-rays, CT and MRI scans are essential. Hospitals must be able to offer early neurological evaluation, investigation, diagnosis and surgical management to the majority of patients.
“Prolonged survival has resulted from better understanding of the pathophysiology of cord damage, as well as from the advances in antibiotic and ventilatory therapy.”
On the availability of such surgeons in Nigeria, he said: “We have only about 30 neuro surgeons in Nigeria, which means one neuro surgeon is responsible for treating any epilepsy occurring in 5 million people.”
Journalists were not allowed close to the private ward of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Hospital where the governor was taken to.
Security operatives shoved and pushed the reporters and told them to steer clear of the ward.
One of them even threatened to “spoil” a reporter’s legs if he took any photograph.
