The Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, described yesterday’s killing of three of his security aides, who were ambushed on Friday night by unknown gunmen along Ihiala-Orlu Road en route to Umuahia, Abia State, as unfortunate.
Briefing newsmen in Asaba, the state commissioner for information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, described the killing of the three police officers, Inspector Lucky Aleh, Inspector Celestine Nwadiokwu, and Inspector Jude Obuh, attached to the Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Unit of the Government House Asaba, as barbaric and unacceptable in a country seeking to be united again for peace and development.
While saying that the late officers would be greatly missed for their contributions to the peace and development of Delta, Aniagwu commiserated with the state police command and the families of the officers.
He said: “We bring you the sad news of our very gallant officers who have helped us in maintaining peace in our state and are attached to the Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD) in Government House, Asaba.
“The officers met their untimely deaths while they were proceeding as an advanced team for the PDP National Campaign Rally in Abia; unfortunately, this particular team veered off from the convoy and took another route different from the one the convoy was taking.
“They were ambushed along the Ihiala-Orlu Road en route Umuahia by non-state actors who eventually killed three of them in police uniform while the one in a mufti escaped.
“We have recovered their corpses, and we have also reached out to their families.”
The Commissioner said some accounts of the incident trending on social media were untrue, adding that the state government delayed announcing their untimely deaths because efforts were being made to reach their families before making the announcement.
He called on the security agencies in the country to fish out the killers and bring them to justice so that Nigerians can once again live peacefully in any part of the country.
“What is happening in parts of this country today, particularly in the South-East, is not healthy for our development as a country because the elections are very close,” Aniagwu stated.
“The security we are asking for is not just for the purpose of the elections.
“It is also something that everybody wants. We should be able to have security at any given time; that way, we would have development.
“We must also plead with our brothers and sisters, who may have taken guns on account of what they see as agitation, to know that the best way to help our people is to allow peace to reign. That way development will take place in the South-East.
“Our people in the South East are very, very industrious; they are commerce-oriented and have developed love for one another over the years.
“We will plead with these our brothers to allow this kind of love that has permeated the atmosphere in the past in the South East to continue to permeate that environment.
“That way, they are able to ensure that the government will bring development to them and also be able to ensure that private sector investments will thrive.”
With less than two weeks until the presidential and National Assembly elections, no fewer than 41 attacks have been recorded on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, facilities, and politically exposed persons, including presidential candidates.
In the incidents, which have increased fears about the likely conduct of the polls, President Muhammadu Buhari, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, and Governor Seyi Makinde were not spared.
Apart from these highly exposed individuals, some politicians have also been targets of the attacks, with some losing their lives in the process.
The situation, which has sent the wrong signal across the country, is already spreading fears that the exercise may be marred by violence.
Vanguard reports that the incidents happened in less than three months across the country.
