An assassination attempt targeted at Ehie Edison, the factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, was aborted by the lawmaker’s security escorts on Sunday night.
The lawmaker, at a press briefing yesterday, said two senior police officers led the gunmen who stormed his residence from the state police command.
The gunmen, he said, attempted to force themselves into his residence but his security men warded them off.
The State Assembly spokesperson Ken Uchendu, in a statement sent to local media, corroborated Edison’s statement.
“At about 11:00 p.m. on Sunday the 19th day of November 2023, a group of armed thugs and rogue police officers led by one SP. Irikefe London Owen, a superintendent of Police attached to the CTU B 3 RSV and CSP Salihu Masalachi attacked the private residence of the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Barr. Edison Ogerenye Ehie, DSSRS, was fully armed to assassinate Mr. Speaker and his family,” Uchendu wrote in a statement.
He assured the public that footage of the incident as captured by CCTV camera would be made public for confirmation and record purposes.
“It is imperative to note that the armed rogues and officers were properly and fully captured by CCTV footage in residence, which shall be made available to all media Houses, including CNN, Al Jazeera, and other national and international media outlets for the records,” the statement read.
The attack followed a crisis within the legislature, with Edison declaring himself the Speaker despite a lack of support by 24 of the 32 lawmakers.
The Commissioner of Police in the State, Olatunji Disu has, however, dismissed Sunday’s attack.
“The preliminary investigations we have done so far have not revealed any assassination attempt,” he said.
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