FG orders probe of attack on ex-gov Audu - I was asked to implicate Gov Idris - Suspect

From Bola Badmus and Johnson Babajide - 07.01.2008

FULL investigation has been ordered by the Federal Government into the alleged assassination attempt on the former governor of Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu, by suspected political thugs at a function in the state last month.

The former governor was on December 31 attacked at a function in Ayangba where he had been invited as a special guest and had, on that basis, petitioned President Umaru Yar’Adua and asked him that security should be fortified around him.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mike Okiro, is said to have directed that a thorough inspection be carried out on the Ford Jeep that was hit by bullets reportedly fired by the hired thugs.

According to findings, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Operations, Mr. Adedayo Adeoye, was said to have led detectives to conduct the inspection on the Jeep in order to determine the extent of damage caused to the vehicle and also the attempt on the lives of the occupants.

It was learnt that the presidency was equally disturbed by recent developments in Kogi State and was said to have summoned the state governor, Ibrahim Idris, who was reported to have been at the Villa last Thursday.

Meanwhile, Audu’s camp has cried out that the state government is making moves to secure the release of Mr. Alapa Anebi, one of the suspected thugs who allegedly confessed to have participated in the attack.

In his reaction to the development, the Special Assistant to the Kogi State governor on Media, Mr. Farouk Adejooh, said the state government was not aware of any investigation by the Federal Government on the alleged attack.

He said Audu did not report the alleged attack on him to any agency of government. Adejooh described Audu’s claims as “mere lies.”

Meanwhile, a prime suspect in the assassination attempt, Mukhtair Alhaji Adamu, has confessed that he was tortured to implicate the state governor.

The suspect, who was paraded by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ben. Aghanya, at the weekend, said that he was tortured and tutored by some thugs in the convoy of the former governor on how to implicate the governor.

He said that he was abducted by four suspected thugs in the convoy of the former governor at Ejule near the venue of the festival, having identified him as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the area.

Adamu, while speaking to newsmen, said that he was abducted on his motorcycle and forcibly taken to Aloma, the country home of the former governor and was handed over to the mobile policemen attached to Prince Audu.

He confirmed that he was taken to the former governor, where he was asked to implicate the governor or be killed. According to him, “four people suspected to be thugs intercepted me at Ejule on my way to Akpayan on my Okada, pounced on me, took me into their vehicle and drove me to Aloma where I was handed over to some mobile policemen who later took me to Audu.

“The former governor, on sighting me pronounced me dead if I failed to play along. Thereafter, I was told to indict Governor Idris as the one who sponsored me to kill him (Audu) and that I was given N500,000 by the governor to execute the project.”

Adamu stated that he had to dance to their tune, having realised that he was at the point of death, stating that he was thereafter taken in a private car to Abuja and later to the Force Headquarters to make statement.

He stated that while at the Force Headquarters, he was abandoned when he requested to be given food and later told the police his ordeal in the hands of the former governor which prompted his being taken back to Lokoja.

The police boss described the incident as mysterious, as, according to him, no one had reported anything to him in Lokoja. He added that the attempt by the former governor to drive to the venue of the occasion hours after the incumbent governor had taken his seat was a disrespect to authority.