Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Monday, attributed the recent attack on the convoy of General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman, to the level of insecurity in Nigeria.
In a statement via his verified Twitter handle, Obi described the attack as saddening.
He stated, “Ugly acts like these are reported from different parts of the country on a daily basis, and it is saddening.
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“Such acts of terrorism, violence and criminality are highly condemnable. The high level of insecurity that has continued to plague our nation has continued to clog up the nation’s wheel of progress.”
According to him, “I restate my commitment to the fight against insecurity as my first priority in governance when voted into power. I am saddened by the lives lost during the attack; one life lost to insecurity, is one too many. I pray God to grant the victims eternal rest.
“May God also comfort the bereaved families! I call on the security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of such acts and bring them to book,” Obi said.
Recall that unknown gunmen on Friday attacked the convoy of Apostle Suleman, along Benin–Auchi Road, Edo State, killing seven persons.
Suleman raises alarm over suspect’s death
Meanwhile, the Edo State Police Commissioner, AIG Abutu Yaro, had recalled the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, for the Auchi Division, Ayodele Suleiman, over the killing of the only suspect arrested in connection with the attack.
Ayodele was recalled to the Command’s Headquarters in Benin for debriefing on the circumstances surrounding the killing of the suspect.
Apostle Suleman’s convoy, it would be recalled, was attacked on Warrake Road in Owan East Local Government Area of the state, during which seven persons, among who were three policemen, were killed.
The clergyman, who late Friday night said that the attack was an assassination attempt on his life, had traced his travails to the 2017 scandals directed at his person, stressing that having survived the smear campaigns, his traducers, he claimed he would not be named, resorted to the assassination.
But by Saturday, Suleman in another post on his Twitter handle alluded to cover-up as he alleged that the suspect gunned down by the police was arrested and handed over to the police alive, stressing that there was no basis for his killing.
The Edo Police Command, through its spokesman, Chidi Nwabuzor, had earlier claimed on Friday night that Suleiman was attacked in his home; a claim the cleric put a lie to by releasing two videos showing that he was attacked on the road.
A video of the incident, which has since gone viral, has a voiceover indicating that one of the lifeless bodies on display was that of one of the attackers, who was gunned down in a gun duel with the police.
Almost immediately, Apostle Suleman put a lie to the claim by alleging that the dead suspect was handed over alive to the police and wondered who was trying to cover up the attack by killing the suspect.
He also debunked the claims by the police that his attackers were kidnappers, insisting that they were hired assassins engaged to terminate his life.
“Lies, they weren’t kidnappers. He was caught and handed over and the police killed him immediately. Why? Why kill him on the spot? Who is trying to cover up traces?” Suleman queried.
Reacting to the development, Jennifer Iwegbu, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP and deputy spokesperson for the Edo Police Command, in an electronically signed statement, said that the CP had recalled the DPO Auchi Division for questioning over the matter.
The text of the two-paragraph statement, titled: “Outgoing CP, Now AIG Abutu Yaro FDC Orders the Interrogation of CSP Ayodele Suleiman, DPO Auchi,” reads: “As part of the measures of the Command concerning the circumstances that led to the death of one of the surviving members of the monstrous gang that attacked the convoy of Apostle Johnson Suleman, General overseer of Omega Fire Ministry, the outgoing CP now AIG Abutu Yaro fdc has ordered the withdrawal of CSP Ayodele Suleman, DPO Auchi for debriefing at the State Headquarters with immediate effect.
“Meanwhile, members of the Public are urged to remain calm and patient as no stone would be left unturned to unearth the circumstances surrounding it.”
