
A former Governor of Ogun
State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police,
Mr. Ibrahim Idris; and the Director-General of the Department of State
Services, Mr. Lawal Daura, over an alleged plan to assassinate him.
According to The
Punch, Daniel, in the petition, accused a chieftain of the Peoples
Democratic Party and the Senator representing Ogun East, Senator Buruji
Kashamu, of being behind the alleged plot.
Daniel in the petition, titled, “Assassination Attempt on my Person;
Main Suspect, Senator Buruji Kashamu,” said that five hefty men, two of whom
were in military uniforms and three others in black clothes, were at his
residence in Maitama, Abuja on Thursday around 9:13 pm, and asked that the gate
be opened for them.
The petition read in part, “The gatekeeper peeped through the
pedestrian gate, asking for their identities and mission, they refused to wind
down their car window. The gatekeeper then opened the pedestrian gate to
continue with his enquiries.
“They asked for his boss
‘OGD’ (the acronym for my full name, Otunba Gbenga Daniel) and he told them
that I was not at home. The five men instantly alighted from the car and pushed
the gatekeeper inside the compound. They started beating him, saying he was lying
and that they had information that I was at home.
“They thereafter asked him
how many policemen were in the house and he told them that there were five.
They asked him to show them where the policemen were. He led them to the Boys’
Quarters, where they found one of the policemen lying down. Then they asked for
his service gun.
“He told them that it was
not with him, then they pushed him inside the toilet and locked the door. They
returned to the gatekeeper and told him to start showing them round the house,
and where the other policemen were. They insisted that they had accurate
information that ‘OGD’ was in Abuja and at home.”
He said that the alleged marauders were armed with
pistols or shotguns, while one of them, who allegedly had a bigger gun, stood
at the gate to watch as the operation continued.
He also alleged that Kashamu was the number one
suspect in the alleged plan to kill him, adding that those sent to kill him
were not aware that he had left Abuja for Ibadan to attend a political meeting.
He said the petition was written to alert the “the
police authorities about the evil intention of Senator Buruji Kashamu” and to
request for additional security protection.
“I want to
inform the Nigeria Police and security agencies that they should put Buruji
Kashamu on security watch list and under strict surveillance.”
Kashamu has, however, denied the allegation,
accusing the former governor of having a sinister plot against him. He said
Daniel could be using the petition to cover up an alleged plan to later attack
him.
Kashamu, however, told our correspondent that
Daniel was lying, saying he had never been involved in violence in his life.
He said, “I have never been involved
in any violence. It is Daniel who is into violence. He is merely playing politics,
and his actions are because of Ogun and South-West politics and the PDP.
“I was aware that he was at
Ibadan with the Chairman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed
Makarfi, while I was in my office in Lagos. He knows my house and we have
been to each other’s houses on many occasions.
“The petition is all lies.
It doesn’t make sense at all. I hope he’s not planning to attack and kill me.
He could be using this as an opportunity to kill me. I can’t kill or be
involved in any crisis, but I can only use the courts to protect myself. Daniel
knows this.”
The senator called on the security agencies to
investigate the claim by the former governor, adding that at the end of the
day, the truth would prevail.