Posted by By Joe Effiong, Uyo on
The police in Benin, Edo State, at the weekend confirmed the arrest of a suspected killer gang, headed by one Mathew Toduwa allegedly hired to assassinate Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Timi Alaibe, Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
•‘We were paid N600m to eliminate Gov Akpabio, Alaibe'
The police in Benin, Edo State, at the weekend confirmed the arrest of a suspected killer gang, headed by one Mathew Toduwa allegedly hired to assassinate Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Timi Alaibe, Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Confirming the arrest to Sunday Sun, the Assistant Inspector-General of police in charge of Benin zone, Mr Udom Ekpoudom said the arrest followed complaint by a top shot (names withheld by us) who claimed he had been duped hundreds of millions of naira by the gang leader.
Thesuspects who have since been granted bail, according to Ekpoudum, during interrogation, confessed that the money was given to them by a top NDDC executive to facilitate the killing of Governors Akpabio and Timipre Sylva.
In their confessional statement to the police, the plot according to Toduwa, blew open when they could not assassinate the two governors as the alleged financier wanted his money refunded.
As part of his strategy to get them to refund the money, Toduwa said the NNDC official had to bring in the police and frame them of fraudulently obtaining from him over six hundred million naira (N600,000,000).
Sunday Sun gathered that the plot, which was planned to be executed in phases, involved the recruitment of militants in the creeks to physically attack Governor Akpabio during a public outing. This plan, however, failed when one of the gunmen from Nsit Atai Local Government Area of the state who was to be a guide, backed out of the plot.
According to the police source, the repented member of the gang confessed that he changed his mind when he visited home to discover the developmental strides that Governor Akpabio had brought to his place of birth, which pricked his conscience.
With his change of mind, other members of the gang who are not from Akwa Ibom could not go ahead with the plot.
Before the collapse of the first phase of the plot, the NDDC top shot had allegedly sunk in over N600,000,000 (Six Hundred Million Naira). The huge financial involvement, according to the suspected gang leader, was due to the insistence of the financier that military hardware was acquired for the operation so as to leave zero chance of error. 'He wanted us to use grenade, bazookas and other superior weapons so that the governor will not have a chance to escape," the gang leader reportedly told the police.
Sunday Sun also gathered that it was when it dawned on the Akpabio-must-die financier that his recruits were developing cold feet to eliminate Akpabio that he began pressing for the refund of the money he allegedly paid them.
It was at this point that the gang leader had to devise plan 'B" and requested for more money so that the attack on Akpabio could be carried out diabolically, a method that would leave no clue. He assured his sponsor that he would send his gods to kill Akpabio while sleeping. May 25th was set for the governor to breathe his last.
When the set date passed and Akpabio was still full of life, the herbalist, Sunday Sun learnt, gave his sponsor some charms to put in his pocket and attend Akpabio's one year anniversary banquet with assurance that the governor would drop dead at the event, advising, however, that the man who wanted Akpabio dead at all costs should sit near the governor at the high table.
Unfortunately, the NDDC man arrived the event late and was given a seat far from the governor and did not have the opportunity to shake hands with Governor Akpabio as was instructed.
When this spiritual method also failed, the man at the NDDC demanded for the refund of over N1,000,000,000.00 (One Billion Naira) he had invested in the project.
It was at this point that the herbalist and the boys were arrested and in the course of interrogation, they spilled the beans to the police authority in Delta State who quickly informed the Assistant Inspector of General of Police (AIG) in charge of Benin zone Mr. Ekpoudom.
Realizing that the game was up, Sunday Sun gathered that the NDDC staff buried his head in shame and approached Governor Akpabio to beg for forgiveness that the charm he procured was not meant to kill, but to elicit more love from him.
But a source close to Government House, Uyo said the bewildered Akpabio is yet to recover from the revelation.
Sunday Sun reliably gathered that the Presidency may have been briefed on the development.
Contacted for comments, the Chief Press Secretary to Akpabio, Mr Usoro Usoro referred Sunday Sun to the police, saying: 'I think only the police can react to that story. I don't have any comment on it."