Governor’s Aide Escapes Death

The Special Adviser to Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State, Dr. Cletus Akwaya has escaped death by the whiskers in Makurdi.

P.M.NEWS gathered that assassins almost snuffed life out him.

Narrating his ordeal  to newsmen on his hospital bed at the Federal Medical Centre, Apir, the Special Adviser  said two young men trailed him to a relaxation spot, some few metres away from the NNPC Mega Station along Otukpo- Enugu highway  and shot him six times.

“I thought they were familiar persons who wanted to exchange pleasantries with me but did not know that they were assassins. They told me bluntly that they were sent to kill me. I engaged them in a scuffle and in the process, one of them shot me six times in the head.

The other used a big stick and hit me on the back as I attempted to stand up and run. I begged them not to kill me but thank God I was saved by members of the vigilance group in the area who shot several times in the air and dispersed them. I was later rushed to the hospital unconscious,” Akwaya said.

Following the attack, scores of government officials were seen trooping to the hospital which is along the Makurdi-Aliade road to sympathise with the media aide.

Commenting on the incident, the State Commissioner for Lands/Survey, John Tondu condemned the attack and identified the opposition party as being behind the assassination.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Benue State Command, ASP Ejike Alaribe told our correspondent on phone that he is yet to be adequately briefed on the incident.

Reacting to the attack on his aide, Governor Suswan stated: “Certain ACN so-called elders wrote a letter to the President and promised that there’ll be anarchy in Benue. I made a very strong report to the IGP, to the National Security Adviser, shortly after an incident happened in Gboko where PDP members’ houses were burnt down. Three days ago,  some people came to the house of my elder brother, shot guns in the air but because they have some security men there, they responded.

“Yesterday’s dastardly attack on my adviser all pointed to the threat that had been issued by these elders of ACN. They have constantly made threats that Benue would be ungovernable and I made reports. This is the continuation of the ACN threat to make sure that the lives and properties of the people are unsafe.

“This is a direct attack to assassinate the adviser to the Governor on media. It wasn’t armed robbery because they didn’t demand for anything. They just went straight and made efforts to kill him; it’s only God that saved him.”

— Ubong George/Makurdi