Assassination Plot: Kogi SDP Gubernatorial Candidate Points Finger At Security Chiefs

Kogi State’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) gubernatorial candidate, Murtala Ajaka, has accused security forces of orchestrating a deadly attack on his campaign director’s residence in an attempt to assassinate him.

During a press conference held at his campaign office in Abuja, Ajaka recounted the harrowing incident, attributing his survival to divine intervention. Regrettably, three police officers assigned to protect him lost their lives in the attack.

Ajaka stated, “It is only by the special grace and mercy of Almighty Allah that I stand before you today. If humans possessed godlike powers, I, Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, the SDP candidate for the upcoming election, would have met an untimely demise this morning. An ad hoc force, consisting of thugs and police officers, stormed the residence of my campaign’s Director, Sheik Ibrahim Jubril, with the sole purpose of assassinating me.”

This violent onslaught transpired over a nearly two-hour period between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. on the same morning. The assailants claimed the lives of three police officers officially assigned to protect Ajaka by the Special Protection Unit of the Nigeria Police.

The rogue force was hastily assembled by the Commissioner of Police, Berthrand Onuoha, the Kogi Director of the Department of State Service (DSS), Tosin Ajayi, and the Officer Commanding the NNS Lugard Ajulu, all with the sinister aim of assassinating Ajaka.

“We had scheduled a rally for today in Anyigba. My advance team, including approximately six policemen, had departed ahead of my arrival the previous night. Tragically, three of these officers met their demise this morning, while others, including the Director of New Media for the Campaign Council, ID Ijele, were abducted,” Ajaka asserted.

One police officer lost his life on the scene, while two others were taken captive. Ajaka continued, “My information indicates that they were summarily executed in a remote area near Ajegwu on the Itobe-Ayingba highway at around 8 a.m. this morning when the rogue force was returning to Lokoja.”

Ajaka placed the blame for this assassination attempt squarely on the shoulders of the state’s security chiefs. He emphasized, “This heinous act orchestrated by the security chiefs in Lokoja is a clear manifestation of the desperate efforts by the State Governor, Yahaya Bello, to obstruct the federal government’s commitment to ensuring a free and fair election in Kogi this weekend.”

He elaborated on the federal government’s intervention, stating, “As you are aware, following President’s assurance of a violence-free election, the federal government commenced deploying soldiers to Kogi, especially in Kogi East, where the governor’s henchmen had virtually established control, attacking supporters of other parties and disrupting any SDP rallies or meetings.”

Ajaka expressed his appreciation for the military’s professional approach to maintaining peace and security during this critical election period.

“The arrival of the military has significantly curtailed the ability of these henchmen to cause havoc. It is evident that if this peaceful atmosphere persists until Saturday, it will be difficult for Bello’s favoured APC candidate, his cousin, to measure up in the election,” he noted.

Furthermore, Ajaka disclosed that they had been privy to information regarding the planned attack. “We uncovered this plot for violence last week, and our campaign spokesperson sounded the alarm in a statement last Wednesday when the rogue ad hoc force was being assembled and instructed to target Sheik Ibrahim, the DG, and Alhaji Ahmad Attah, the youth leader.”

“This timely revelation forced them to abandon their sinister plan, or so we believed after our exposure. Unfortunately, these three officers, who had made no attempt to conceal their allegiance to the governor’s agenda, learned about my planned movements last night and decided to invade the house they believed I had stayed in early this morning,” Ajaka lamented.

He further criticized the state’s police commissioner for releasing a statement claiming that they had raided a house where thugs were residing.

“I have heard that the police commissioner issued a statement earlier, alleging that they had stormed a house where thugs were harboured, eliminating three thugs and recovering two AK-47 rifles from them.

“It is deeply disheartening for a police commissioner to coordinate the killing of police officers for the benefit of a politician. Are policemen officially assigned to me now considered thugs? If the police officers and our Director of New Media, who was a senatorial candidate in the last general elections, were indeed thugs, then whom did they attack?”

Ajaka raised essential questions about the police commissioner’s actions, saying, “How can a police commissioner and his collaborators mobilize an armoured tank to raid a private residence in search of thugs?”