Former Anambra State governor and immediate past Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has given an account of how his convoy was attacked by gunmen on Wednesday.
Ngige spoke to journalists when the presidential candidate
in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, visited him to commiserate with him over
the attack.
The former governor said he had been in Anambra since
Saturday and had sent his personal aides on errands, including taking one of
his vehicles for maintenance, when they were attacked on their way back. The
incident led to the death of a woman, while his police orderly was shot in the
leg and dispossessed of his rifle and uniform.
Dispelling rumours of his death, Ngige said: “As you can
see, I’m alive, I’m not dead, so there should be no panic or fear. They
attacked my convoy while they were coming back around Umuoji when they saw some
vehicles racing towards them, and later reversed and chased after them, and
started shooting.
“They were all dressed in police and army uniforms, so my
convoy driver dribbled them until they ran into a shop and they caught up with
my police security men, who battled with them until his bullets were exhausted.
They took away his rifle and his uniform and that was after they shot him in
the leg.
“They told the two policemen that they were serving a zoo
government. So I think something is in the offing; they are seizing arms,
mopping up police uniforms. I have spoken to the governor of the state, who
assured me they will be tracked down, because if they are not tracked down,
that can lead to potential danger and a sign of potential unravelling of the
calm we have enjoyed in the state for three months now.
“You know we are entering the Christmas season and our
people will be coming home. They need to be tracked down because it is a gang
with a modus operandi of operating in police uniforms.”
On whether it was a targeted attack, the former senator said
it could have been, because his convoy and drivers are well known, but added
that it might also have been coincidental, as the group could simply have been
seeking out policemen to seize weapons and uniforms.
He said: “My pilot driver is very well known and most people
know that anywhere they see him, they know Ngige is there. He has driven me for
22 years. So on that basis, I may say they knew it was my convoy and decided to
attack. On the other hand, I can say they do not know; they may have just seen
a convoy with policemen and decided to attack them. So I’m not talking about
targeting me now; anyone who targets me is wasting his time.”
Speaking on the claims of the gunmen that the police were
serving a zoo government, and on the recent jailing of the leader of the
Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Ngige said: “When they told the security men
that they were serving a zoo government and that they should tell their masters
they are coming for them. You know what that means.
“My own take is that Nnamdi Kanu’s case is for a political
solution. I met President Buhari on that. Governor Soludo has also said that he
wants Kanu to be released to him, but even if they don’t want to release him to
us, they can release him to Britain.
“Why I say so is because the symptoms he is exhibiting are
bizarre. I’m not a psychiatrist, but I know that something is wrong. Even the
NMA people that went to do a psychiatric evaluation on him were wrong. They
should look at that other part of it. They should look at that other component.
There is mania there, and when you have such a situation, the court normally
discharges the person. That is my take. This is elementary psychiatry, and I’m
a medical doctor.”
Peter Obi, who visited Ngige at his country home in Alor,
Idemili South Local Government Area, thanked God for sparing the life of the
former governor, while commiserating with the family of the woman who was
killed while making a video of the incident.
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