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Tag: assassination

  • Assassination attempt on candidate a sham, says LP

    The Labour Party (LP) in Cross River State has described the alleged assassination attempt on the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) southern senatorial district candidate, Mr Gershom Bassey, as a sham.

    State Chairman Mr Austine Ibok, in a statement at the weekend said: “We are reliably informed that during the alleged shooting at Gershom Bassey’s house, a (Police) rifle was taken away from one of his security men. Today, we understand, that rifle was returned after negotiation with one of his aides. The politician, who is also from the same political ward with Bassey, allegedly negotiated with militants, who we are reliably informed, confiscated the rifle. How did PDP identify the gunmen to negotiate with?

    “We demand the PDP and Gershom Bassey to tell the people of Cross River their role in the insecurity of this state.”

    He absolved the LP southern senatorial candidate, Prince Bassey Otu of blame, which he said was alleged in some quarters.

    Senator Otu defected late last year from the PDP to the Labour party.

    He said: “Our attention has been drawn to malicious allegations made in the mass and social media, accusing the Labour Party and indeed our party’s standard bearer, Bassey Otu, of masterminding a recently reported shooting at the residence of the PDP flag bearer Mr. Gershom Bassey.

    “A desperate government can do anything to remain in power; there are allegations of their hiring people for electoral campaign purposes without fulfilling the financial promises”

  • Senator survives alleged assassination attempt

    The Senator representing Abia Central Senatorial District in the Senate, Nkechi Justina Nwaogu has survived an alleged assassination attempt on her and other members of his campaign team at Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of Abia State.

    The incident, our correspondent gathered occurred penultimate week along Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway as the Senator and her campaign team were returning from the palace of His Royal Majesty, Eze Bernard Enweremadu who celebrated his new yam festival that day.

    The incident, according to sources, would have degenerated but for the professionalism exhibited by security details attached to Senator Nwaogu.

    Narrating her ordeal to reporters at her resident, Okpu Umuobo, Senator Nwaogu said she was disappointed that a serving Chairman of Transition Committee of Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area, who she described as her brother could brazenly block and attack her convoy on the expressway.

    She said: “We were coming back from an event along the Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressway and on getting to Uratta/Akpaekpu Junction in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area; a car blocked us right at the middle of the Expressway. There were other cars lined up at the median of the ever-busy expressway. His aim was to prevent us from finding any alternative route. When we got closer and they realised it was our convoy, they started shooting.

    “The hoodlums had been there waiting for us because I believe they knew where we went.

    “We went to Umuahia to attend a ceremony and on our way back, we went to His Majesty (Eze) Bernard Enweremadu’s palace for his new yam festival.

    ”After the event, we were heading back to Aba. We believe that the people trailed us from that vicinity because we saw a car blocking the expressway and that was at 6.45p.m.

    “When we approached, there were some young boys who blocked the expressway. On sighting us, they started shooting. I saw the Chairman of the Transition Committee of Isiala Ngwa North Local Government, Ginger Onwusibe. He was telling them that Governor Theodore Orji had zoned the governorship to Abia South and that the governor instructed them not to allow anybody from Abia Central to campaign.

    “As he was saying this, he was shooting and the policemen in my convoy came to stop them. I was frightened because in the first place, I am not aware I have been told that I cannot contest for governorship which is what I’m vying for on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). I am also not aware that I have been banned from contesting to become the next governor of the state in 2015. I am aware that I am the only woman contesting for governorship position of this state.”

    Continuing, she said: “It was an attempted assassination on my life. If not for my security details, who knows what would have happened to me. For them to be shooting and for the TC chairman to join in the shooting was a clear attempt to assassinate me. But I thank God that nothing happened to me and any of the people that were with me.

    “It’s been reported to the Director of State Security Service (SSS). I have also reported the incident to the police, although I have not been able to reach the Commissioner of Police, Adamu Ibrahim because calls to his telephone line didn’t go through. I would like to see him personally because if this thing is not nipped in the bud, it could result to lawlessness that could disrupt the peace we have been enjoying in the state.

    “The matter has also been reported to Governor Theodore Orji. I sent the governor a text message and told him about the unfortunate incident and he said he would look into it.

    She further said: “The incident was an indication that we have security problem in the state because this kind of people can cause trouble for innocent citizens.

    “He is neither a police man nor a military man. What was a mere chairman of transition committee doing with guns? Security operatives should look into it. It is a serious issue because waylaying a serving Senator or anybody for that matter on the road or blocking an expressway with cars and then shooting sporadically and chanting, ‘Ochendo said he has zoned the governorship position to Abia South, nobody from Abia Central should contest.’

    “He has been going about boasting and telling everybody that the governor has assured him that why he was re-appointed was to stop anybody who he wants to foment trouble.

    “I was not campaigning there on the road and we have not started campaigning. But I believe I have the right to campaign, to contest and eventually to win by the grace of God. I do not think that it is my governor that instructed anybody to disrupt my movement.”

    On whether she had any quarrel with the Chairman of Transition Committee of Isiala Ngwa in the past, Senator Nwaogu said: “My only offence was that I didn’t give him money when he requested. Sometime ago, he asked that I should give him N20m to enable him to create good impression on my behalf before Governor Orji to which I refused.

    “That has been my crime and that is why he has been maligning me. That has been why he has been disrespecting me because.  I have my integrity; I have my self- respect.

    “Despite the ugly incident, I urge my supporters to be calm because the law enforcement agents will take care of this situation, and of course, my governor will take care of it.”

    When contacted on phone for comment on the development, Onwusibe debunked all the claims made by Senator Nwaogu against him. He said he had pictures of what transpired between him and Senator Nwaogu that day.

    He further said he would be convening a meeting of traditional rulers in the area to officially report the matter to them.

    When contacted on phone for comment, the Abia State Commissioner of Police, Adamu Ibrahim, confirmed that Senator Nwaogu had made official complaint about the alleged threat by the Chairman of Transition Committee, adding that police had begun investigation into the matter.

  • Close shave

    Close shave

    Buhari assassination miss saved Nigeria from catastrophe. So, it’s time to unite against terrorism   

    It is a season of high insanity. That is emblematised by the claim by former Niger Delta warlord, Asari Dokubo, that Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, former military head of state and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, might have staged his own botched assassination.

    Another rogue supposition, this time from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) camp, suggested the assassination bid was a fall-out of an APC in-fighting. A Buhari elimination, it hinted, would have rid Buhari’s APC rivals, perhaps for the party’s presidential ticket, of their nemesis, once and for all.

    Yet, another rogue conspiracy theory suggested the Buhari elimination plot could have arisen from the Jonathan Presidency. Child’s-death-after-a-witch’s-cry version, these theorists wondered why the Buhari attack came a few days after the former head of state’s widely reported criticism of the president.

    Still, a voice of reason has come from Col. Dangiwa Abubakar Umar, the highly principled and respected former military officer: any supposition that the suicide bomber could have had government’s prompting was pure nonsense, since it was the same Federal Government that had upgraded Gen. Buhari’s security infrastructure, after his famous lampoon of Boko Haram. It is also reassuring that the Presidency has distanced itself from the theory of Olisa Metuh, the PDP national publicity secretary, though it has stayed loudly silent on Dokubo’s rather reckless claim.

    But whatever claims, warped and reasoned, and responses to them, a chilly reality is here: terrorism, with its mass slaughter of innocent citizens, is getting out of hand — if it has not already done so. That should awaken everyone from their partisan stupor; and force a united front against a menace that would eliminate everyone if it is not first eliminated. That is the stark reality facing Nigeria today.  However it is tackled will determine if, for us, there would be a tomorrow as a country.

    Still, while aiming at that tomorrow, it is good to look back at yesterday; and trace how this hideous menace has crept on us. That would help us adjust our today, in order to secure our future.

    Nigeria at independence had a near-zero record of political assassination. But then came the long spell of military rule, with its mass violence, wide-spread impunity, devil-may-care injustices, and militarisation of the Nigerian psyche. All these had built the fundaments of Boko Haram, with its mass disorientation and hopelessness; not to talk of pervading youth joblessness that gives Boko Haram’s murderous philosophy such fillip. All these have not been helped by the advent of military-minded politicians in democratic garb, proud and eager to project power, even if that power brazenly subverts the law and murders due process. That is what has got us to this sorry pass.

    By their anarchic philosophy, Boko Haram terrorists would seek to hit high profile targets, set the country ablaze and set afoot the confusion, anomie and eventual anarchy they need so badly to thrive.

    That was as close to peril the country got in the botched bombing of Gen. Buhari and Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, the leader of the Tijjaniyyat in Nigeria, one of the sects in the mainstream Sunni Islam, as distinct from the Shia.

    The death of both could have set the country on fire, both on religious and political fronts — and only God knows if Nigeria could have emerged from it unscathed as a united country. That narrow escape notwithstanding, it still puts Nigeria at a very grave juncture, in the gallop to terror-induced anarchy.

    Can this gallop to doom be halted? No doubt, even if it would take some doing; for the country has reached a dangerous phase in terror killing. Still, the first step to halting this catastrophe is for the Jonathan Presidency to start — and fast — its promised probe into the attacks on Gen. Buhari and Sheikh Bauchi.

    A very dangerous mindset is to assume that only Boko Haram could have done it. Yes, Boko Haram has logged fearsome notoriety these past few years, such that any bombing is automatically adduced to its unending capacity for evil. But it is also true that, as Boko Haram is a good cover, there might well be other small but no less vicious players in this unfortunate era of equal-opportunity terrorism and anarchy. The earlier the government gets to the root of this bombing, the better it is for everybody; and for its own confidence level, as an effective bastion against terrorism and needless slaughter of innocent souls.

    But beyond getting to the root of this twin-bombing, the Jonathan Presidency needs to pick itself up and demonstrate to Nigerians that it does, indeed, have the capacity to checkmate the terrorists. After all, before the audacious attempt on the duo, there had been near-countless bomb attacks — and there is no guarantee that there would not be more in the future.

    Unfortunately, the sound bites from inside the government are less than reassuring.  Lt-Gen. Kenneth Minimah, the chief of Army Staff, practically said the other day that his troops were ill-trained to face Boko Haram. By requesting for a US $1 billion foreign loan, President Goodluck Jonathan himself would appear to be at the end of his own tether. More unfortunately, the president has not demonstrated how the crippling corruption in the system, that had spectacularly undid past spends on the military, would not undo his proposed new loan.

    However, one thing is sure. Beyond immediate sentiments and excuses (no matter how genuine or sincere), President Jonathan has the ultimate duty to checkmate Boko Haram; and secure Nigerians under his charge. That is why he must tap into as many minds as possible — including the opposition APC’s, which has often accused him of unwise insularity — to save our country from destruction and disintegration.

    This is the time to unite and live; than divide and die. It is time to unite against terrorism.

  • APC asks Jonathan to probe assassination attempt on Buhari

    APC asks Jonathan to probe assassination attempt on Buhari

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) demanded yesterday a probe of the botched suicide attempt on a former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

    To the APC, there seems to be more to the suicide mission than meets the eye. There must be a “believable and credible enquiry”, it said.

    APC Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun made the demand in a statement and during an interaction with reporters after a visit by the party’s National Executive Committee to the Catholic Bishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan.

    He said: “The APC condemns in strongest terms the abominable spate of bomb blast and almost obvious attempt to take the life of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, (rtd). We understand that the unassuming, peaceful and humble General was on his way to his village, Daura, when a vehicle trailed him.

    “We are grateful to God that Gen. Buhari’s life was spared. Three of his aides were, however, injured in the incident and have been discharged after treatment.

    “We urgently appeal to his supporters nationwide to please remain calm in the face of what seems obvious provocation but strongly urge Mr. President to speedily set up a high-powered probe to unravel those behind the suspicious bomb blast.

    “This incident must not be treated as one of the usual Boko Haram atrocities as there seems to be more to it than meets the eye.”

    The party expressed “heartfelt condolences to those who lost their lives in the first bomb blast which claimed scores of lives in Kaduna”.

    It said: “We join their families in praying to Almighty God for the repose of the souls of the dead and speedy recovery of the injured.

    “We want to reiterate, once again, that because of the innocent lives being lost on daily basis, we committed our great part to full cooperation with the Jonathan administration in seeking solutions to the insurgency.

    “But Jonathan is more intent on politicising the issue to the extent of hiring propagandists from as far away as Russia and United States.”

    The APC, for the umpteenth time urged President Goodluck Jonathan to take the protection of Nigerian lives more seriously and to prudently utilise the “huge” amounts budgeted for security to upgrade our security infrastructure.

    “In addition his administration should fully cooperate with the international community in order to crush the Boko Haram insurgency.”

    Responding to questions from reporters after meeting with Cardinal Onaiyekan, the APC National Chairman said: “What is critical at this time is that we have made a passionate appeal to all the supporters of Buhari to please maintain the peace and not allow this provocation make them do things to the benefit of enemies of this nation.

    “Secondly, particularly to you members of the press, you have noticed recently the tendency of the PDP to want to say that the APC is sponsoring Boko Haram. They have hired people as far away as Russia.  Russians have become security experts who can tell what is happening in Nigeria. Americans have become security experts who can pronounce who is supporting Boko Haram in Nigeria. At least, one member of the British Parliament has also been told to call for an enquiry into this.

    “But yesterday because of the desperation of the ruling party, an attempt was made on one of the key leaders or goal-getters of the APC and it ought to have been clear to all concerned by now that the major states principally affected are APC states.

    “Does somebody set fire on his own house to prove any point? Won’t that be the height of stupidity? And now, the leader of our party is targeted and yet they are still blaming us, telling the world, telling the nation that the APC is a supporter and financier of Boko Haram. Gentlemen, Nigerians are not idiots. Whoever is doing that thinks Nigerians have taken leave of their reasoning ability.

    “It is clear that you do not prove bravery by stabbing yourself. So, the APC cannot prove that it does not like Jonathan by setting APC states on fire. Does that make any sense? So I don’t want to say whose hand is in this pie, whatever the apologists think, let them work. They are the ones who control the security forces.

    “They have spent over $20 billion in the last few years for supposedly providing infrastructure for the security forces. Yet, today, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever. We are on top of the struggle against Boko Haram. So whose finger is in this pie? I think it is fairly obvious.

    “Well, we have called for an investigation, that is clear. Two things we did – we appealed to his teeming followers and followers of the APC to please maintain the peace. And for peace to reign, we also called on the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately institute a believable and credible enquiry to unearth what is in fact going on. Why do they want to target Gen. Buhari? And indeed, why Boko Haram?”

    Asked if APC believes that the incident was an assassination attempt on Gen. Buhari, said: “We have no doubt in our mind and we thank God. Bini people say if you are not evil, you won’t die an evil death. Gen. Buhari is one of the most upright human beings we have in this country and God, the Allah he serves has not destined an evil death for him, no matter the machinations of people in government today who seem to have taken all leave of rational thought.

    “If they can hire propagandists, cheap Russians, cheap Americans to say that APC is not beyond Boko Haram, has there been an investigation? If a child dies in the morning after the witch flies over at night, isn’t there a connection? Or are they going to tell us that they don’t know what is happening in this country? We are not government; we have the right to think what we think because government is not delivering on its path of the bargain. They are in charge of security and protecting our lives.

    Asked of the connection between the peace which APC is suing for and the allegation of assassination attempt on Gen. Buhari’s life by some forces, Odigie-Oyegun said the link was obvious.

    He added: “No, I think it is really straightforward. Maintain peace doesn’t mean you do not know what is going on. What they wanted to provoke, we are telling our members not to fall for these dastardly temptation because if our 10 million supporters, particularly in this part of the country go to town in anger, then this nation will be in trouble. So the connection is very clear.”

    Some of those on the entourage of the APC delegation were the Deputy National Chairman, Senator Lawal Shuaib, Senator Chris Ngige, National Treasurer, Alhaji Mohammed Bala, Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Timi Frank, and others.

  • Delta Speaker escapes assassination

    Delta Speaker escapes assassination

    An apparent assassination attempt on Delta State Speaker, Mr. Victor Ochei, failed yesterday.

    He escaped unhurt when an explosive device went off at a public function he was attending.

    The incident happened at Obomkpa in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State.

    A young woman was, however, injured.

    Ochei, who was on a routine visit to his Aniocha North Constituency, had barely finished exchanging pleasantries with his supporters at the Eke Market square venue, when a loud explosion threw the crowd into pandemonium.

    An eye witness said the canon which was aimed at the Speaker’s seat was only inhibited by a row of chairs.

    It was also gathered that the projectile were wrapped in white satin materials, which made early detection difficult as the chairs and tables were also decorated in white materials.

    The victim, whose left ankle was fragmented as a result of the explosion, was immediately rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, by the Speaker’s pilot vehicle.

    She was subsequently transferred to the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara for further medical attention and is said to be in a stable condition just as doctors are battling to avert amputation.

    A suspect is in police custody in connection with the incident.

     

     

  • Army foils assassination attempt on ex-Offa council chair

    Some military men in Offa, Kwara State, at the weekend foiled an assassination attempt on the former chairman of the local government, Prince Saheed Popoola.

    Ten Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs, who confessed to the attempt, allegedly waylaid the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftain at a restaurant in the town.

    Popoola said the hoodlums arrived the restaurant around 7pm on Friday, challenging anyone belonging to ACN to a fight.

    The former council chief said the shooting sporadically into the air and brandishing other dangerous weapons like broken bottles.

    Popoola said three of the hoodlums have been arrested and detained at the Police Command in Ilorin by a team of soldiers who had been placed on alert, following Popoola’s suspicion that he might be the next target of attacks.

    Those arrested are Kabiru Oluaye, Musiliu Olarinoye, and Lukman Ariwajoye.

    Last Wednesday, some suspected PDP thugs had attacked and severely injured two ACN chieftains from Offa in their homes – Omooba Akorede and Murtala Taofeeq (Aroso). The incidents occurred at Isale Offa and Ita Erin, both in Offa.

    Popoola said: “Following the incidents of Wednesday and the fact that we have long suspected that PDP’s failure to gain support in Offa might make them to resort to underhand tactics, I had tipped off some security men, including soldiers stationed in Offa, about the activities of the PDP thugs. So, they asked me to lure them out by going to a joint. I told them it’s been long I visited joints/restaurants because of the security threats. But they said I should just come and they escorted me there in plain clothes.

  • Amaechi: Court fixes July 29 to hear rumoured assassination plot

    Justice Adolphus Enebeli of the Port Harcourt High Court yesterday adjourned till July 29, the case on whether the police have the right to investigate a rumoured plot to assassinate Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Otelemaba Dan-Amachree.

    Counsel to the Speaker Emenike Ebeta said there was no prima facie evidence before the court to warrant his client to answer police invitation on the rumoured plot to assassinate him and the governor.

    Ebeta said the open letter to the Presidency on the assassination plot allegedly written by the Speaker did not emanate from his client.

    He, however, urged the court to restrain the respondents from infringing on the rights of his client.

    The counsel to the respondents, (Inspector-General of Police, AIG Zone 6, Calabar; Commissioner of Police and others), Donald Denwigwe, argued that there was no way the police would not investigate the matter, pointing out that the applicant must appear to defend the allegation as the onus of proof lies on him.

    Denwigwe said stopping the police from investigating a crime-related offence would endanger the lives of citizens and increase problems in the society.

    He submitted that the police could not be compelled to reveal the source of their information in any given matter as no individual is beyond investigation.

    He said the allegation against the police being sponsored by some individuals in the crisis should be proved.

  • Lawyer writes IG over alleged assassination plot

    Lawyer writes IG over alleged assassination plot

    An Enugu State-based lawyer, Elder Oyibo Chukwu, has written the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, overan alleged plot to assassinate him.

    He said he uncovered a plan to kill him just before or about Easter this year, and it may be carried out unless the police intervene urgently.

    Chukwu, the immediate past Assistant National Legal Adviser of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said at the expiration of his tenure, there was an alleged bid to illegally extend the tenure of the executive “without passing through the Constitutional crucibles and procedural steps for such an extension.”

    Although he would have benefited from the elongation through questionable amendment of the group’s Constitution, he said he felt it was “irresponsible, immoral, illegal and reprehensible” to do so.

    The lawyer said his opposition to the bid marked the beginning of the plot to eliminate him.

    Meanwhile, he said the Ohanaeze Foundation, registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) for and on behalf of Ohanaeze, has been used as a conduit to misappropriate the group’s assets.

    Chukwu wrote: “Piqued by these serial acts of illegalities and criminal activities, one Prince Emeka Onyesoh and I had gone to an Enugu High Court in Suit Number E/435/2012 … to challenge the purported tenure extension as it were and to seek the restoration of the Ohanaeze Foundations and her assets.

    “This is how my travails started, and the above is the motive to kill me to silence me.

    “At 10.32am, on 27th February, 2013, I received a telephone call … in which the caller called to ask me to confirm that I was Barrister Oyibo Chukwu and that I live in Enugu.

    “When the caller insisted that I answered his question without disclosing his identity which I had sought, I had retorted ‘The 419 People’ without saying more.

    “But I kept listening into the phone without cutting the call. Then the voice at the other end, which was a male voice, said: ‘He is a dead man’.

    “It then became clear to me that the bizarre caller was seeking to confirm that I was a real person and my location.

    “My worst fears were however confirmed on February 28, 2013 by 12:31pm when another caller who simply identified himself as ‘good Igbo man’ called me…

    “He said: ‘There is a plan to kill you about Easter 2013, any time within two weeks before Easter in March and beginning of April. Take precautions. I am doing this because you are a good and honest man. You are fighting for our people. The people you are fighting are thieves and bad people.’

    “I have also been called on (another) telephone number …on about March 3, 2013 by a male voice who wanted to know whether I would be in Enugu during Easter.

    “He refused to identify himself, in spite of my entreaties to disclose same and only cut the conversation when I refused to answer his question.

    “I have therefore come to the conclusion that my assassination is impending, and that the danger is real, present and continuing.

    “I have come to the honest belief that unless there is immediate police intervention, those planning my assassination will carry it out.

    “I also have a very reasonable belief that the life of Prince Emeka Onyesoh who has been my compatriot and partner in the struggle to save Ohanaeze, may also be in danger.

    “Sir, my very fervent and humble plea, consequently, is that you use your good offices to arrest my assassination, the impurity and lawlessness about to be unleashed.

    “I shall be on hand and available to interact with the police on this matter when invited”.

     

  • Ex-ACN aspirant alleges assassination bid

    A  former governorship aspirant on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ondo State, Olayato Aribo, yesterday narrowly escaped being assassinated by suspected Labour Party (LP) thugs.

    Sources told The Nation that seven assailants stormed his home at Imoru in Ose Local Government about 5:30pm.

    Aribo, a prominent industrialist, has written a petition to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIGP), Zone 11, Osogbo, Osun State.

    The petition reads: “A gang of eight LP thugs at Imoru… scaled the fence of my house with the aim of assassinating me, my family and political associates.

    “Fortunately, we had left for Ifon to attend a rally.

    “Because they did not meet me at home, they damaged my property.”

    The ex-ACN governorship aspirant said: “The suspected LP thugs told my neighbours that my name is on their assassination list and they will ensure I am eliminated.”

    He said the suspects were armed with guns, axes, cutlasses and other weapons.

    Aribo said the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Ifon Division and his men prevented the hoodlums from torching his house.

    Aribo, who urged the security operatives to save his life, added that the AIGP should investigate the matter and bring the culprits to book.