Soludo has revealed how gunmen struck at their meeting, The Nation report.
Prof. Chukwuma Soludo
A former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, on Thursday relived his experience when some gunmen invaded an event he was addressing in Anambra State.
Speaking Thursday on Channels Television evening programme, “Politics Today”, Soludo said he would not like to preempt if the attack was “politically motivated”.
He said: “…Our prayers go out to the families… We pray for the peaceful repose of their souls of these three policemen; very gallant ones who were senselessly killed in this whole process…
“We were having an interactive town hall meeting. We finished the diocesan crescent mass around 2 p.m, and by 4 p.m, they scheduled an interactive town hall meeting with Isuofia youths.
“By the way, Isofia happens to be my hometown; I’m a village boy. This is where I feel safest anywhere in the world. I walk the streets, I jog on the streets, I take long walks. I mean I’m everywhere as a village boy, as it were.
“With this interactive session with over 1,000 youths seated, and I was just making preliminary remarks to open up the interactive session with other dignitaries from the community – commissioners and honourable members of the House of Assembly, former commissioners, former members of the House, and several other dignitaries – were in attendance.
“And just as I was about to wrap up, and for them now to open up comments, questions and answers, I heard gunshots. At first I thought maybe the policemen were shooting in the air and concurring with the kind of exuberance in the hall itself…
“Then, I began to hear people screaming, and all of that, and everyone scampered for safety. But then when it was all over, it took several minutes, about 10 to 15 minutes of continuous gun battle, going back and forth, stopping and starting again.
“By the time we all came back, we saw three dead bodies lying in the pool of their blood. They were the three policemen… Like I said earlier, may God grant their souls eternal rest. We’ll continue to pray and support the families.
“And then, the commissioner was abducted. I understand that when they ran and jumped the fence, some people grabbed and took him away… Our prayers are with him. We pray for his safe return.”
The Anambra State Police Command on Thursday said it had arrested four more suspects, besides the one it initially apprehended, over the gun attack on Prof. Soludo.
A statement by the command’s spokesman Ikenga Tochukwu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), listed the names of the suspects as Mbah Victor (30) years and John Olisakwe (21).
The others, he said, are: Chigozie Omeh (21) and Emmanuel Nnobi (28).
“The suspects confessed to have actively taken part in the attack and subsequent abduction of Commissioner for Public Utilities, Emeka Ezenwanne, who the command is working assiduously to rescue,” the statement said.
Tochukwu said the command was working round the clock to apprehend other fleeing accomplices, unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.
He urged the public to provide useful information that would enable the command to reduce criminality across the state.
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