A convoy of Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello was attacked by gunmen along the Abuja-Lokoja highway on Saturday.
According to the state government the attack happened near a Naval Base, a few kilometers away from Lokoja, the state capital.
The Kogi Commissioner for Information, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, who made this known in a statement in Lokoja, claimed that the gunmen were political thugs of an opposition political party in the state, the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
He explained that the incident, which took place at about 12.30 p.m., left several people including security aides injured and taken to the hospital for medical attention.
Fanwo said, “The gunmen suspected to be political thugs of the SDP, having sighted the convoy of Bello approaching, blocked the road and started shooting at the convoy.
“A Tundra branded with the logo and flags of the party also blocked the governor’s vehicle and the occupants were armed with rifles and short guns.
“But thank God our governor left the scene unscathed and there is no cause for panic.
“Some security aides and other aides attached to the governor sustained some degrees of injuries and have been rushed to medical facilities for attention.
“We urge the people of Kogi to remain calm as security agents are in full control to ensure the arrest of the hoodlums behind the attack, ” he said.
He further said that the state government would not allow any breakdown of law and order but would do all it could to bring the attackers to justice.
He added that the governor has warned that no APC member should get involved in any reprisal attack as insecurity from any quarter will be met with stiff penalties.
Meanwhile, the SPD, in its response through Mr Kunle Afolayo, the Media Aide to the SDP Governorship candidate, Mr Yakubu Ajaka, refuted the allegations and said that “It was the other way round because it was his political thugs that attacked us.”
He said, “Is it possible for an opposition political party to attack a governor just like that?
“We were on our way to the Palace of Maigari in Lokoja from Koton Karfe this afternoon, when the governor’s convoy, heading to Lokoja from Abuja, met us on the way and launched an attack on us just like that.
“God knows the truth. It’s unfortunate that APC administration in Kogi is using government might against us and to lie against us for a crime they committed against us.”
