Tension as Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly Narrowly Escapes Assassination...See Details

Posted by Samuel on Sun 26th Feb, 2017 - tori.ng

The Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly has almost ended up dead after assassins came for him in the state.

Mr. Justin Okonoboh

The Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Mr. Justin Okonoboh, on Friday evening, escaped an assassination attempt at Igueben Local Government Area of the state, Punch Metro reports.

Okonoboh, elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, made this known when he briefed journalists in Benin on Saturday.

He thanked his backup driver for saving him from the assassins.

Okonoboh said he was on his way from his constituency on Friday, when the incident happened.

He said he had gone to settle some land issues, when his aide in the escort van told him on the phone that he should be on the alert because a Toyota Camry was following them.

“When we looked back, the car was behind my backup Hilux van. The Camry wanted to overtake the Hilux to block me but the driver did not allow them. The Toyota Camry struggled with the Hilux for about five kilometres and they almost crashed but did not give up.

“The policemen inside the Hilux van fired a shot into the air to scare them but that did not deter them as they kept chasing us. It happened around Ugbegun-Nebudin-Ujogba Road. It was when we got to the Benin-Auchi Expressway that they waved their hands to us a warning. I do not know whether they are armed robbers or kidnappers but I know that only assassins would behave the way the men did.

“My security aides inside the Hilux said the men were armed. I have enough security aides attached to me but the challenge is that there are no vehicles to convey them when I am travelling,” he explained.

Okonoboh said he had reported the matter to the commissioner of police.