Attackers Told Policemen They Are Serving ‘Zoo Govt’, Threatened Return — Ngige

Former Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has affirmed his safety following Wednesday’s attack, while narrating how armed men attacked his convoy.

Ngige disclosed this to the press, when the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, visited him at his country home in Alor, Idemili South Local Government Area (LGA).

He confirmed that his pilot driver and personal aides were returning from Umuoji for his car maintenance when they were attacked.

He said, “They attacked my convoy while they were returning around Umuoji. They saw some vehicles racing towards them, which later reversed, chased after them and started shooting.

“The assailants were all dressed in police and army uniforms. My convoy driver managed to manoeuvre until they ran into a shop.

“They caught up with my police security man who battled with them until his bullets were exhausted.

“They took away his rifle and uniform after shooting him in the leg.”

“They told the two policemen that they were serving a ‘zoo government’. I think something is in the offing. They are seizing arms and mopping up police uniforms.

“When they told the security men that they were serving a ‘zoo government’ and should tell their masters they are coming for them, you know what that means.”

Ngige further revealed that his security aide was not only shot in the leg, but a woman had died during the shootout with the assailants.

Meanwhile, Ngige said he had informed the state governor, Chukwuma Soludo about the attack, who assured him that the assailants would be tracked down.

“If they are not tracked down, it can lead to potential danger and an unravelling of the calmness we have enjoyed in the state for the past three months.

“You know we are entering the Christmas season and our people will be coming home.

“They need to be tracked down because this is a gang with a modus operandi of operating in police uniforms.”

The former Anambra governor also expressed scepticism about the likelihood of a targeted attack.

“My pilot driver is very well known. Anywhere people see him, they know Ngige is around. He has driven me for 22 years.

“So, on that basis, I may say they knew it was my convoy and decided to attack.

“On the other hand, it may be that they just saw a convoy with policemen and attacked them to harvest guns and uniforms.

“So I’m not insisting it was targeted. Anyone who targets me is wasting his time,” he added.

When asked about the correlation between the attack and the recent incarceration of the Indigenous People of Biafra leader, Nnamdi Kanu, the Senator said, there is a need for a political solution.

“My take is that Nnamdi Kanu’s case requires a political solution. I met former President Muhammadu Buhari over it.

“Governor Soludo has also said he wants Kanu released to him. But even if they don’t want to release him to us, they can release him to Britain.

“Why I say so is because the symptoms he is exhibiting are bizarre. I am not a psychiatrist, but something is wrong. Even the doctors who conducted the psychiatric evaluation missed something,” he stated.