Posted by By Musikilu Mojeed, Abuja on
Vice-President Atiku Abubakar‘s political associate, Alhaji Umar Shittien, on Thursday raised the alarm...
Vice-President Atiku Abubakar‘s political associate, Alhaji Umar Shittien, on Thursday raised the alarm that he was being trailed by people he suspected to be hired assassins.
Briefing journalists in Abuja, Shittien, who is the Deputy National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Movement, an aggrieved bloc in the Peoples Democratic Party, said he narrowly escaped being killed by the assassins in Jos on Monday.
He said the hired killers, fully armed with automatic rifles, arrived his private residence in the Rayfield area of Jos in a grey bus at 10.30 pm. and began to comb the premises.
Shittien said the intruders arrived shortly after he drove out of his residence to see a friend nearby and were disappointed when they did not see his car in the garage.
The vice-president's associate said he had earlier that day attended the burial of the former governorship aspirant of the Advanced Congress of Democrats, Mr. Jessey Arukwu, who was murdered recently.
The politician added, "Since the compound was quiet and all the doors were firmly locked, they did not know that my daughters were indoor. But my daughters saw all they were doing through the window.
"While some of them suggested that they should force their way into the building to ascertain whether I was in, others suggested that there was no need for that since my car was not seen.
'At that time, my dogs were barking loudly at them. So they jumped into their bus and left.
"I believe they were sent to kill me because they were certainly not armed robbers. If they were armed robbers, they would have broken into my residence and steal whatever they wanted."
Shittien said he decided to cry out because that was not the first time an attempt had been made on his life.
He recalled that at the height of the third term plot, which he opposed, some strange persons suspected to be assassins trailed him from Abuja to Akwanga.
Shittien said he had to abandon his car and escaped through the back entrance of a friend‘s residence in the town.
The ACD chieftain added, "I am alerting the world so that when anything happens to me, my associates and family should know who to hold responsible. I am a democrat and I should have the freedom to criticize the government of my country. People may not like what I am saying or whom I am associating with but they should at least respect my fundamental human rights."