Banditry: Edo senator escapes death

The senator representing Edo Central in the upper legislative chamber, Clifford Ordia, was on Monday, attacked twice by suspected bandits along Okenne-Lokoja and Lokoja-Abaji roads.

Ordia who heads the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, told newsmen how he escaped death by whiskers, when the daredevil suspected bandits opened fire on his convoy, while returning to Abuja from his hometown in Edo State.

He said during the exchange of fire between the criminals and security officers attached to him, three policemen sustained gun wounds. He said one of the wounded policemen is in a critical condition, but responding to treatment in one of the hospitals in Abuja.

He said his personal vehicle was riddled with bullets, though he was lucky to have escaped unhurt. “I’m seriously traumatised by the experience,” he said.

Narrating his ordeal, he said: “We were coming from Edo State, somewhere between Okenne and Lokoja, when we met these suspected bandits. They opened fire on my convoy. The gallant policemen had to immediately return fire.

“The other security vehicle behind had to immediately join them and they were able to repel the suspected bandits. During the exchange, three of the policemen sustained gun wounds. One of them was critically injured. We had to immediately rush them to a Federal Medical Centre in Lokoja, Kogi State.

“They did their best and was able to stabilise them. I’d to immediately put a call across the Federal Medical Centre in Abuja to be on standby. One of the policemen had a bullet lodged close to his liver.

“We met another setback around Abaji. There was traffic because of the incidence and because we had to save the lives of the wounded policemen, we decided to make a move. They opened fire on us. Some vigilantees had to join the policemen and they were chased into the bush.

“That was how I survived that attack. If you see all my vehicles, you’ll see how the bullets damaged them. But I’m glad that we all survived. I must salute the gallantry of our policemen. If given the right equipments, they can do a lot and protect Nigerians.”

He called on the Federal Government to immediately initiate moves to restructure the security architecture of the country, warning that no one is safe anymore. He said something urgent must be done to restore order to every part of the country and protect the lives of every Nigerian.