The senator representing Kogi East in the National Assembly, Isah Jibrin Echocho has narrated how thugs attacked him inside the Government House, Lokoja, Kogi State.
The lawmaker, in a telephone interview with Daily Trust, said the incident happened on Tuesday immediately after a meeting with Governor Yahaya Bello outside the governor’s office.
Echocho said himself, Senator Sunday Karimi (Kogi West) and other All Progressives Congress (APC) federal lawmakers from the state had gone to pay homage to the governor after the festive season.
He said the thugs singled him out of other legislators and pounced on him, accusing him of being responsible for APC’s poor performance in the last governorship election in Kogi East senatorial district.
Though APC’s Usman Ododo won the election with 446, 237 votes, his main challenger, Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who came second, won the majority of his 259,052 votes in Kogi East Senatorial District.
Both Ajaka and Echocho are from Kogi East Senatorial District.
Echocho said the attackers berated him for not working for the success of APC in Kogi East during the poll.
The lawmaker, however, said he did not suffer any injury as the police officers present provided him security and he had since returned to Abuja safely.
Narrating how the incident happened, the senator said, “I was attacked by thugs in Government House Lokoja but the police rescued me.
What happened was that all APC senators and the House of Representatives members from the state visited the governor on a courtesy call for the New Year.
“Being one of them, I was not left out. We went up and we had some brief meeting with the governor, though he expressed dissatisfaction over APC performance in Kogi East (my senatorial district) in the last governorship election.
“I told the governor that I tried all I could to convince my people to vote for the APC. I campaigned vigorously for APC in Kogi East but the people were resolute in voting for another candidate despite my efforts.
“It is not as if APC performed woefully in the election in Kogi East. There were pockets of LGs and wards that we won. There was no other thing I could have done beyond what I did. We exchanged pleasantries with the governor, took a group photograph and left.
“As we were coming out, in front of the governor’s office, the thugs pounced on me, that I was responsible for APC’s failure in Kogi East.
“To my surprise, they brought out knives and other dangerous weapons to attack me but police officers around were able to rescue me inside my vehicle and we zoomed off. I thank God I didn’t suffer any injury. The police were able to provide sufficient security.”
When asked if the governor was aware of the attack, he said: “The governor cannot descend so low and send thugs to attack me.
“The governor spoke with me after the attack, and he assured me that the thugs would be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law, but I told him not to worry since I’m safe.”
When contacted for comment, the Kogi State Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo did not respond to a message sent to him and did not answer several calls to him.