KOGI SDP CANDIDATE ESCAPES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT HELD BY GOV BELLO
Alhaji Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, almost evaded assassination this afternoon when his motorcade was ambushed by armed men personally led by Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the governor of Kogi State.
At around 300 p.m., two powerbikes and a Toyota Hilux passed Alhaji Ajaka’s automobile and forced it to halt as he and a few vehicles were nearing Lokoja in the area of the ram market.
A Mercedes Benz limousine with Bello’s official emblem and an open picket carrying masked and hooded men brandishing AK-47 assault rifles served as the heralds for this assault.
The men leaped to the ground and started firing at Ajaka’s automobile as well as every other vehicle in the convoy. They fired unjustified shots at Ajaka’s armored car for more than five minutes.
While the gunmen were having a field day, Bello’s car was positioned a few meters in front and used to block the road.
Ajaka’s SUV, a Lexus, was completely wrecked and rendered immobile when they stopped.
A known criminal and former member of the House of Assembly named lately by Mr. Bello as Director General for Fireams Recovery, Friday Makama, is one of the gunmen. A man named Bashir Gegu, the commissioner for Solid Minerals who has a repulsive reputation for thuggery, was also identified as one of the hoodlums accompanying the governor.
After consulting with the Commander of the Lokoja Naval Base, Mr. Ajaka, who was on his way to meet appointments with the Mai Geri, the first class traditional ruler of Lokoja, and the Attah Igala in Idah, opted to cancel the trip and return to Abuja.
This is again another poor performance by Mr. Yahaya Bello in the use of obscene authority and force.
During his eight years of draconian rule, Bello is known to have let loose firearms and gunmen on a number of citizens. His hoodlums have murdered a number of people while campaigning, and others are still missing.
Ajaka was a member of the APC till recently. Mr. Yahaya Bello drove him out of the governorship nomination by using proxies and minions to get a court order barring him from taking part in the primary elections.
Bello’s brutal behavior today is unmistakably a continuation of his desire to prevent Yakubu from winning the election.
We request Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the next president of the Federal Republic, to show that his administration would not tolerate the brigandage that has killed thousands of Nigerians over the past eight years.
Even though there are still five months until the election, Mr. Bello’s thugs and gunmen will kill dozens of our compatriots before the vote if he does not receive a clear message that violence will not be tolerated under the next administration.
The director of communications is Faruk Adejoh-Audu.
Organization ALHAJI Muritala Yakubu
