Former Ogun State governor, Mr. Gbenga Daniel, has accused his former political associate and Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District, Mr. Buruji Kashamu, of sending gunmen to kill him. The allegation was contained in a petition addressed to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim K. Idris.
According to the former governor, at about 9.13pm on Thursday, five hefty men visited his residence located at Abuja’s Maitama District. Mr. Daniel said he was told that two of the men wore military fatigues, while the other three were dressed in black.
On arrival, narrated Mr. Daniel, they hooted until the gate man went to peep through the pedestrian gate to ask for their identities and mission. However, Mr. Daniel said he was told that they refused to wind down the windows of the Toyota Camry car that brought them.
The gateman, said the former governor, opened the pedestrian gate to further inquire about their mission.
They were said to have demanded to see OGD (initialism of Otunba Gbenga Daniel). The gateman told them that his boss was not at home, a response that allegedly made the five men jump out of their vehicle and push the gateman into the compound where they started beating him. The former governor said the gate man was accused of lying by the assassins, who said they had information that he was at home
“They thereafter asked him how many policemen were in the house and he told them five. They also asked him to show them where the policemen were. He led them into the boys’ quarters and they found one of the policemen lying down and they asked for his service gun. He told them it was not with him. They then pushed him into the toilet and locked him there,” claimed Mr. Daniel.
Afterwards, Mr. Daniel said the suspected assassins returned to the gate and ordered him to show them where the other policemen were. He alleged that the suspected killers insisted that they were reliably informed that he was in Abuja. While taking the gatekeeper around, the suspected assassins were said to have spotted one of Mr. Daniel’s domestic staff and took him for a policeman, a situation that almost got him beaten to death.
The former governor added that the policeman that was locked in the toilet had his gun in that toilet. He was said to have taken it, went through the ceiling and landed in another main toilet that was not locked. He then started shooting. The gunshots said Mr. Daniel, scared off the assassins, among whom only the one standing at the gate was holding a big gun, while the four others had pistols and shotguns. According to the governor, they did not go away with anything from the house.
“Nothing was removed from the house. They reportedly came in a black Camry and the sixth person was said to be the driver, who stayed put in the car on standby,” Mr. Daniel said.
The former governor said the main suspect behind the alleged assassination attempt is Mr. Kashamu, with whom he has had an eight-year political disagreement. Mr. Daniel said Mr. Kashamu, who is wanted in the US for drug running, has continued to malign his character.
“He confessed publicly and wrote in national newspapers that he spent over N3billion to destabilize and destroy my administration, using his own words.
On another occasion he gathered some fake documents and sought for people who can lie on oath that I killed students and sucked their blood; with all manner of fiction on sundry issues and got these published in various online news medium that I stole campaign funds,” recalled Mr. Daniel.
He claimed to have taken the calumniation as a price for participating in government and politics. Mr. Daniel further claimed that Mr. Kashamu has boasted to friends that he will finish him off and blamed the assassination attempt on the recent Supreme Court ruling on the leadership crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of which they are both members.
“This renewed offensive was as a result of the recent Supreme court ruling placing his own faction at a disadvantage and ending the reign of his control over the State Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State, which were all secured through various controversial court orders without any democratic process whatsoever.
It is Kashamu’s belief that I was the brain behind his loss of power and relevance in Ogun State PDP (the main source of milking innocent political aspirants), and he felt I must be brought down by all means,” claimed Mr. Daniel.
Mr. Kashamu, added the former governor, confirmed the claim in an online publication on 24 August
The former governor said he was in Abuja on Tuesday to solidarize with the new PDP State Caretaker Committeesworn in on Wednesday and that he slept in his house that day. He, however, said Mr. Kashamu’s informant did not know he left Abuja on Thursday afternoon in the company of the PDP National Chairman, Mr. Ahmed Makarfi, and others for Ibadan on a peace mission. From Ibadan, Mr. Daniel said he traveled to Ekiti.
On account of the alleged assassination attempt, Mr. Daniel requested additional security protection and that Mr.Kashamu should be placed on the security watch list and under strict surveillance. He added that should anything untoward happens to him, Mr. Kashamu should be held responsible.
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