Revealed: Why Governor Ortom Ran for One Kilometre to Escape Assassination
- Reactions have continued to trail the gun attack on Governor Samuel Ortom
- The Benue state government has explained the circumstances surrounding the incident
- The federal government has ordered investigators to probe the attempt on the governor's life
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The Benue state government has explained why Governor Samuel Ortom ran for over one kilometre to escape the attack by a militia group
The chief press secretary, to the governor, Terver Akase, told The Nation that Ortom was attacked on a farm that was not accessible by road.
Source: Twitter
Akase said after the ambush, the governor and his security details had to run to where his convoy was parked one kilometre away.
He said:
''Last weekend was one of those visits to his farm around Tyo-Mu near the banks of River Benue. The terrain there from the Makurdi-Gboko road to the farm is not good for vehicles to access.
“He had to park his convoy vehicles and move to the area by foot accompanied by his personal assistant and security aides.
“It was while they were on their way from the farm that they ran into the ambush by the armed persons. His team of security men did a great job of repelling the attacks and safely guarding the governor back to where the vehicles were. This was what happened.''
The aide stated that the governor did not make up any story on the attack for political gain.
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The clarifications on the attack on the governor were made by his aide following a dispute over the governor’s allegation of an assassination attempt.
Governor Ortom also confirmed the account by his aide.
According to This Day, he told journalists in Benue that he was inspecting his farm on Saturday, March 20 when armed men dressed in black, opened fire on him and his security aides.
He said it took the swift response of his security aides to repel the attack, while he ran a long distance to escape unhurt.
Meanwhile, the attack on Samuel Ortom of Benue has not gone well with Nigerian governors according to his counterpart from Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje.
He disclosed this on Monday, March 23, after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja.
According to him, the rising spate of insecurity in the country is unfortunate.
Kess Ewubare is a senior political/current affairs correspondent at Legit.ng. He has both a BSc and a Master’s degree in mass communication. He has over 10 years experience working in several fields of mass communication including radio, TV, newspaper, and online. He can be reached via email at kess2099@gmail.com.
Source: Legit.ng
