“This Goes Beyond IPOB, These People Were Professionals Sent To Kill Me” – Former Imo State Governor Narrates His Attempted Assassination

Chief Ikedi Ohakim, a former governor of Imo State, has revealed that the gunmen who ambushed his convoy at Oriagu, Ehime Mbano in Imo state on January 2 were out to assassinate him.

According to Chief Ikedi, the gunmen killed four police escorts after detonating a bomb they threw inside the escort car.

Speaking to reporters after the incident, Ohakim said that his bulletproof vehicle was the reason he was still alive.

He claimed they continued to move after that after the attackers fired shots into his car’s tires and vehicle. According to Ikedi, the attackers were very professional in their attacks.

He said, “We were driving between Isiala Mbano and Ehime Mbano. These people blocked us at a place called Umualumaku. They attacked us from behind and were firing at our vehicles consistently. I thought I was a dead man and I was with two of my children, my son and daughter.

“What saved me was the bulletproof vehicle. That I am alive today is by the special grace of God and the bulletproof vehicle. But unfortunately for me, they killed four of our boys, including the driver. Yes, we lost four of the boys and I am devastated. How can that be? What crime did they commit?”

According to the former governor, the attackers pursued his car even after his own driver was able to flee the scene.

He said, “They pursued us and continued firing at our tyres. Luckily, the vehicle has what is called run-on flat tyres on which you can continue driving even after a puncture. So, even when they shot at the tyres hoping to immobilise us, the vehicle continued moving. If they were ordinary tyres and the vehicle had stopped, they would have cornered and finished us.

“But the tyres held on until we got back home. We drove for about 20 minutes before we got home. That was the saving grace.

“The driver who manifested a tremendous level of driving skill kept manoeuvring until he lost them at a junction when he went right and not knowing where we had gone, they headed the other direction on the road to Umuahia.

“We then turned and went back to my house. We were there when Imo Government House sent reinforcement from Owerri who brought the corpses of my security people.”

Ohakim continued by expressing his appreciation to God saying: “This goes beyond the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), I must say. These are professionals, well-trained. They are not ordinary people. They were driving a blue colour BMW 5-series car, brand new. They came to kill me.”