Starrys Obazei/October 22, 2022.
Apostle Johnson Suleiman, President of Omega Fire Ministry, in
reaction to the attack on on his convoy at Auchi, in a video posted on his Twitter handle on Friday,
said that he escaped an assassination attempt on his life by a whisker.
Apostle Suleiman noted tragically that seven lives – three Police orderlies, two drivers and two domestic female staff – were lost to the attack.
He said: “My car was attacked; they opened fire on my car and kept spraying bullets, my wife and kids were in the escort car in the front.
They killed the police; they killed the other people on the other escort car and the buses with us. Seven people moving in the convoy were killed.
“People who did this are expecting me to come out and mention their names so they can come out and deny, I won’t do that. The truth of the matter is, you can’t kill me, my life is in the hand of God, I’m a man of God.’
A source at Auchi in a telephone chat told ddnewsonline.com, that was either assassins were after Suleiman’s life or hoodlums acting as bandits or kidnappers saw “a gold-mine in the convoy and struck for material gains.
The source said: “This kind of attack occurs more on Benin – Auchi axis which normally takes travellers to Agbede before reaching Auchi.
“The perpetrators of such attacks are normally bandits/kidnappers, who fire into moving cars.
“But Apostle Suleiman had already diverted to Sabongida-Ora through Afuze and the last town before Auchi was Warake.
“The attack occurred after he had passed Warake which has a boundary with Auchi. So, he was attacked at Auchi.”
And commenting on the incident, a security expert, Dickson Osajie, condemned the lack of security in the state, especially as the attack happened in broad daylight.
He said: “They attacked him (Suleiman); seven people were killed. The country is not safe. How can people move around with guns on the expressway and they are not detected? It is a disturbing situation.”
Contacted for his reaction on the matter, the state Police spokesperson, Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the attack.
He said six persons, including policemen and Suleman’s drivers, were killed, adding that efforts were ongoing to locate the whereabouts of the cleric’s female domestic worker.
Nwabuzor added: “The attack is confirmed. It was done around 5 p.m. in Auchi. They travelled from Benin and were already at Auchi when they were given a hot chase and surprisingly they (hoodlums) shot at their vehicles. Three policemen were murdered; two of his drivers were killed; one domestic female worker killed and they are still searching for the other female staff.
‘As we speak, Apostle Suleiman is safe. One of the gunmen was gunned down and of their vehicles recovered.