Ex-CBN gov, Soludo, recounts encounter during gun attack

A former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, on Thursday detailed the chronology of events that culminated in an attack by gunmen during an event in Anambra State.

Speaking Thursday, April 1, on Channels Television evening programme, “Politics Today”, Soludo said he would not like to preempt if the attack was “politically motivated”.

Soludo narrated, “We were having an interactive town hall meeting. We finished the diocesan crescent mass around 2 p.m, and by 4 p.m, they scheduled an interactive town hall meeting with Isofia youths.

“By the way, Isofia happens to be my hometown; I’m a village boy. This is where I feel safest anywhere in the world. I walk the streets, I jog on the streets, I take long walks. I mean I’m everywhere as a village boy, as it were.

“With this interactive session with over 1,000 youths seated, and I was just making preliminary remarks to open up the interactive session with other dignitaries from the community – commissioners and honourable members of the House of Assembly, former commissioners, former members of the House, and several other dignitaries – were in attendance.

“And just as I was about to wrap up, and for them now to open up comments, questions and answers, I heard gunshots. At first I thought maybe the policemen were shooting in the air and concurring with the kind of exuberance in the hall itself…

Read also: Gunmen attack ex-CBN governor, Soludo, kill three police orderlies in Anambra

“Then, I began to hear people screaming, and all of that, and everyone scampered for safety. But then when it was all over, it took several minutes, about 10 to 15 minutes of continuous gun battle, going back and forth, stopping and starting again.

“By the time we all came back, we saw three dead bodies lying in the pool of their blood. They were the three policemen… Like I said earlier, may God grant their souls eternal rest. We’ll continue to pray and support the families.”

The Anambra State Police Command on Thursday said it had arrested four more suspects, besides the one it initially apprehended, over the gun attack on Prof. Soludo.

A statement by the command’s spokesman Ikenga Tochukwu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), listed the names of the suspects as Mbah Victor (30) years and John Olisakwe (21).

The others, he said, are: Chigozie Omeh (21) and Emmanuel Nnobi (28).

“The suspects confessed to have actively taken part in the attack and subsequent abduction of Commissioner for Public Utilities, Emeka Ezenwanne, who the command is working assiduously to rescue,” the statement said.

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