Obosi monarch escapes 3rd 

assassination attempt

ONITSHA —The Traditional ruler of Obosi, Igwe Chidubem Iweka, on Monday eve, escaped an assassination attempt made on him by unidentified gang of four gunmen.

The incident, according to an eye-witness, occurred between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. as the gangsters stormed his palace at Obosi on two motor-bikes.

They were said to have entered the Igwe’s compound and attempted to gain entrance into his bedroom before they were halted by vigilante operatives attached to the palace.

According to the source, as soon as they stopped their motor-bikes in front of the open gate leading to the palace, they entered into the large compound.

It was learned that when one of the security guards attached to the palace flashed his torch and asked who they were, one of the gunmen opened fire on him and as his colleague returned fire, the gunmen jumped on their bikes and zoomed off.

Narrating his ordeal to newsmen, yesterday, in the palace, the vigilante operative, who gave his name as Ikechukwu Enedah, said: “On Monday, June 8, at about 1.30a.m., four armed men wielding pump action rifles, stormed the palace of the traditional ruler demanding his whereabouts and when he wanted to know who they were, they shot several times at me, but the bullets only threw me off balance and tore my clothes.

“They started shooting sporadically at the palace, the second security guard returned fire and in the ensuing gun battle, they escaped on two motorcycles.

Also in a press statement issued on behalf of the palace, the media consultant to the monarch, Okwudili Oguegbu, alleged that the assassination attempt on the monarch was the third since 2012.

“This was coming on the heels of the spate of arrests of some Obosi youths by a crack team of Anti Cult Squad of the Nigerian Police, following a petition written by a retired AIG of Police, an indigene of the town,’’ Oguegbu said.

He said the assassination attempt on the traditional ruler was because of the monarch’s widely acknowledged crime fighting stance.

He recalled that in 2012, some gunmen had fired AK47 rifles sporadically into the palace, injuring some of the security guards on duty, in 2013, another group of gunmen operating on a motorcycle, attacked the convoy of the traditional ruler while his driver was returning from Asaba Airport where he had gone to drop the monarch.

Source - Vanguard