Ex-governor of Anambra State 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.
The former governor spoke to journalists when presidential candidate in 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, visited him to commiserate with him on the attack.
Ngige said he had been in Anambra since Saturday, and had sent his personal aides on errand, including taking one of his cars for maintenance when they were attacked on their way back, leading to the death of one lady, while his police orderly was shot in the leg and dispossessed of his rifle and his uniforms.
Ngige, dispelling rumors of death, 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 vehicle 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 exhausted. They took away his rifle and his uniforms and that was after they shot him in the leg.
“They told the two police men 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 unruffling of the calmness we have enjoyed in the state for three months now.
“You know we are entering 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 be because his convoy and drivers are well known, but again he thinks it may be a coincidence as the group may just be going about seeking police men to harvest guns and uniforms from.
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 police men 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 policemen were serving a zoo government, and the recent jailing of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Ngige said: “When they told the security men that they were serving 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 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 is a bizarre symptom. I’m not a psychiatrist, but I know that something is wrong. Even the NMA people that went to do medical evaluation on him were wrong. They should look at that other part of it. They should look at that other component, there is a 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.”
Mr Peter Obi who visited him in his country home in Alor, Idemili South Local Government Area thanked God for sparing the life of the former governor, while commiserating with the families of the deceased woman who was felled for making a video of the incident.
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