‘Wike survived five assassination attempts in 11 months’

Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr Austin Tam-George, has claimed that Governor Nyesom Wike survived five assassination attempts in 11 months.

He described as callous and insensitive, Sunday’s denial by Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris that the governor’s life was at risk.

Wike, on Sunday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, accused the IGP of posting to the state a new Police Commissioner, Zaki Ahmed, who succeeded the late Francis Odesanya on March 13, to cage and kill him (Wike).
But the IGP described the governor’s allegation as a lie.
According to The Nation, Tam-George said:

 “It is no secret that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government declared war on the government and people of Rivers State soon after the party lost the governorship litigation at the Supreme Court in 2016. The first attempt to kill the governor was made immediately after the Supreme Court verdict.
“Rivers governor’s Chief Security Officer was removed, without any explanation. Six police officers dismissed by the police in January, this year, played a key role in foiling the series of attempts to kill Governor Wike.
“After several attempts to assassinate Governor Wike failed, an offer of N150 million was made to two of the six dismissed police officers, to directly kill the governor, but the officers declined the offer.
“We call on the International Police (INTERPOL) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to lead an independent enquiry into why the gallant and patriotic officers were dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force, on spurious charges of misconduct.”

The commissioner claimed that as part of preparations to seize the state during the 2019 elections, the central APC government was allegedly considering a range of measures against Wike and some key leaders in Rivers State.