Suspected Bandits Attack Edo Senator

By Deji Elumoye and Udora Orizu

A member of the National Assembly, Senator Clifford Ordia, was last Monday reportedly attacked twice by suspected bandits on Okenne-Lokoja and Lokoja-Abaji roads.

Narrating his ordeal to journalists in Abuja yesterday, Ordia, who represents Edo Central, and the chairman of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, said the suspected bandits opened fire on his convoy, when he was returning to Abuja from his hometown in Edo State.

He narrated that during the exchange of fire between the criminals and security officials attached to him, three policemen sustained gun wounds, adding that one of the critically wounded policemen is responding to treatment at an Abuja hospital.

The lawmaker also said his vehicle was riddled with bullets, though he was lucky to have escaped unhurt.

The senator said: “I’m seriously traumatised by the experience. We were coming from Edo State, somewhere between Okenne and Lokoja, where 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 (FMC) in Lokoja, Kogi State.

They did their best, and were able to stabilise them. I’d to immediately put a call across the FMC 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 vigilantes had to join the policemen to chase them into the bush. That was how I survived that attack. If you see all my vehicles, you would 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 equipment, 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 in Nigeria.

According to him, something urgent must be done to restore order to every part of the country and protect the lives of every Nigerian.