Amaechi’s Men Under Attack …Chief of Staff Escapes Assassin’s Bullet

Residents of Port Harcourt have condemned in unmistakable terms, the assassination attempt on the life of the Chief of Staff, Government House, Chief Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike, who narrowly escaped the assassin’s bullet on Sunday night. The Chief of Staff who was apparently trailed from Government House by men of the underworld came face to face with the attacker’s fury at the Garrison along Port Harcourt-Aba expressway. The incident which did not come to the people as a total surprise rather goes further to confirm recent threats issued by some bloodthirsty elements, who doing their masters bidding have sworn to make the state ungovernable to Gov. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. It also exposes the machination silent resolve to make Rivers State ungovernable, by the deposed government of Celestine Omehia, which is suspected to have been working hand in hand with some disgruntled politicians, and cult groups to make the state restive. While it is no longer news that these threats have continually being issued, with the law enforcement agencies not doing enough to track down the culprits, the attack on Chief Wike now brings to the fore, the nonchalant attitude of security operatives in the state. According to eyewitness account, Chief Ezebunwo Wike who was driving in an official Prado Jeep with Government House registration number was accosted by his assailants who had supposedly traced him from Government House at Garrison. The unsuspecting Chief of staff however sensed trouble when the gun men tried to forcefully overtake his car. It happened that his driver was not prepared to allow them have their way. Consequent upon which the killer squad immediately began to rain bullet on the car conveying the Chief of Staff. Luck however came the way of the COS, when an approaching van of the Swift Operation Squad (SOS) ran into the ugly incident and spontaneously opened a counter attack on the gun men. The superior fire power of the security men stave off the marauders immediately manoeuvre and escaped, leaving Nyesom’s driver reeling from the bullet wound he sustained during the shoot out, while the jeep in which the Chief of staff was traveling was riddle with bullets.

It was purely an act of, God that Chief Wike and his Special Assistant; Hon. Ikenga survived the attack unscathed. It would however be recalled that these agents of darkness had earlier threatened to make Rivers State, especially the city of Port Harcourt ungovernable for Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, ever since the Supreme Court declared him winner of the April 14, 2007 gubernatorial polls in the state, automatically which led to the ouster of Sir Celestine Omehia and his five months’ government.  In an interview carried by a Port Harcourt weekly, Mr. Soboma George, currently on the Police wanted list for jail break in Port Harcourt, and complicity in the cult crises that rocked Port Harcourt to its foundation avowed attacking Gov. Chibuike Amaechi, as well as make Port Harcourt ungovernable for his government. But it seemed security agencies in the state took Soboma’s threat with a pinch of salt. And as such went to sleep over such security alarm. However, Sunday night’s attack on the Chief of Staff, his Special Assistant and Driver, who miraculously escaped by the whisker with their lives, calls to question the fight against cultists and cultism in the state. More so, when the likes of Soboma George roundly linked to the recent gun battle walking around freely, as well as granting interviews to newspaper houses. Political pundits have also say that the attack on Chief Nyesom Wike may not be unconnected with the government’s recent move to unearth the genesis of the crisis that has for some time now rocked the state with a view to genuinely reconcile the people. Some Port Harcourt residents who spoke to The Beam shortly after the incident opined that the attack may just be a signal to the government to call off the attempt to genuinely unearth interest at play in fueling the cultism in the state. “Those who benefit from the crisis may just be registering their protest against Amaechi’s genuine approach to resolve cult problem in the state, by bringing in a no less personality than Justice Kayode Esho, a retired Supreme Court Justice to head the panel bill to investigate and reconcile the people at the aftermath of the crisis. Many believe that the Esho-led Panel is a far cry from the seeming window dressing of the Omehia-led government that simply paid lip service to peace and reconciliation in the five months of that government.” Furthermore, the attack on the Chief of staff further buttress the fact that the Omehia  and his backers who are now stupendously rich from looting the treasury may be leaving no stone unturned in their desperate bid to avenge their ouster from office. It would be recalled that The Beam recently reported plots by these men with Dr. Peter Odili as their godfather and EFCC seeming untouchable, swearing to avenge their opprobrium using the looted state resources at their disposal to make the state ungovernable. To this end, they have no doubt employed the services of disgruntled politicians and hoodlums to make good their threats.