Gunmen attack Nigerian governor's aides

Gunmen have attacked three government officials attached to Governor Alex Otti of Abia State.

The unidentified hoodlums, PREMIUM TIMES gathered, attacked the officials on Tuesday between Umuowa and Ihite Junction near the Sam Mbakwe Airport in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

The officials, it was gathered, were heading to the airport for official duties when the incident happened.

Sources said the gunmen opened fire on the vehicle conveying the officials when they approached the airport corridor.

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Abia govt speaks

Njoku Ukoha, the spokesperson to Governor Otti, confirmed the attack in a statement on Tuesday morning.

“In the early hours of today, 2 December, an advance team of three members from the Office of the Executive Governor of Abia State, Alex Chioma Otti, on duty to Sam Mbakwe Airport, Imo State, was attacked by unidentified gunmen,” Mr Ukoha said in the statement.

“The general public is hereby informed that the convoy of Governor Otti was not involved in this attack, and no lives were lost during the unfortunate incident,” he said.

Police speak

When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday afternoon, the police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye, criticised the Abia State Government for publicising the attack without reporting to the police in Imo State.

Mr Okoye, a deputy superintendent of police, said, “I don’t know where they got the information from. That information is not true. How can such a thing happen, they never even reported it to any police station? The next thing they are doing is making a public announcement.”

Increased attacks

Like in other states in the South-east, security has deteriorated in Imo State with frequent attacks by armed persons in recent times.

The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities. Hundreds of people have been killed or abducted, and several others injured in some of such attacks in the region.

The Nigerian government has repeatedly accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region.

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But the separatist group has repeatedly denied its involvement in the attacks.

IPOB is a group leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south Nigeria.

Its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, was recently convicted and then sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism at the Federal High Court in Abuja.