How Gunmen Opened Fire On My Convoy- Apostle Suleman

•Three Policemen, Four Others Killed In Attack

* Cleric Condemns Police Killing Of Suspect, DPO’s Removal Over Suspect’s Killing

GUNMEN, on Friday, October 21, attacked the convoy of the President of Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, Apostle Johnson Suleman, along Benin-Auchi Road in Edo State, killing three policemen and four others.

  Suleman was said to have returned from a programme in Tanzania, and was heading for a destination in the state when the gunmen attacked his convoy.

  His lawyer, Samuel Amune, said: “He was returning from a journey when some assassins attacked him. Three of his Police orderlies, among others, died. He was returning to Auchi when the gunmen attacked him along Sabongida down to the Warake axis and Auchi shares a boundary with Warake. He had passed Warake and was entering the boundaries of Auchi when the attack happened.”

  Reacting to the incident in a video posted on his Twitter handle the same day, Suleman explained: “My car was attacked; they opened fire on my car and kept spraying bullets. My wife and kids were in the escort car in the front. They killed the Police; they killed the other people on the other escort car and the buses with us. Seven people moving in the convoy were killed.

  “People who did this are expecting me to come out and mention their names, so they can come out and deny. I won’t do that. The truth of the matter is, you can’t kill me; my life is in the hand of God, I’m a man of God.”

  Confirming the incident, the Edo State Police Command spokesman, Chidi Nwabuzor, said six persons, including policemen and Suleman’s drivers, were killed, adding that efforts were ongoing to locate the whereabouts of the cleric’s domestic worker.

  Nwabuzor added: “The attack is confirmed. It was done around 5pm in Auchi. They travelled from Benin and were already at Auchi when they were given a hot chase and surprisingly, they (hoodlums) shot at their vehicles. Three policemen were murdered; two of his drivers were killed; one domestic female worker killed and they are still searching for the other domestic female worker.

  “As we speak, Apostle Johnson Suleman is safe. One of the hoodlums was gunned down and one of the vehicles was recovered.

  “One of the kidnappers that was caught today (Friday), while the DPO, Ayodele Sulaiman (CSP), led the operation along Iyewe-Auchi Road, and after a gun battle, this one (suspect) was gunned down while others escaped with bullet wounds. Bush combing is ongoing.”

  Meanwhile, Suleman has condemned the Police for killing the arrested prime suspect involved in the brutal attack on his convoy, a situation that led to the death of three policemen, two drivers and two others.

  A 42-second video clip online showing the corpse of the killed suspect in a vehicle later went viral. In the clip, a policeman was heard describing the slain suspect as a kidnapper.

  Suleman, in a tweet, condemned the killing of the suspect who was handed over to the Police alive, alleging that it was an attempt to cover up traces that could lead to those behind the attack.

  He tweeted: “Lies…there weren’t kidnappers… He was caught and handed over and the Police killed him immediately. Why? Why killing him on the spot? Who is trying to cover up traces?”

  Suleman alleged the suspect may have been hurriedly killed by the Police to cover up the identities of those behind the deadly attack on his convoy.

  Also reacting, Amune, while demanding a thorough investigation into the case, slammed the Police for killing the suspect who was alive when youths and the vigilante caught him and handed him over to them.

  He said: “One of the boys was caught yesterday by vigilantes and he was handed over alive to the Auchi Police Division. But ironically, we don’t know what happened and the next thing we heard was that the Police have shot him dead. I don’t know what the Police would cook up later to be responsible for shooting him, as the Police station was not attacked by the youths.

  “It was youths, in conjunction with the vigilante, that arrested the boy and handed him over alive to the Police. So, the only conspiracy theory that one can easily think of now is, was he (the policeman) acting under a superior order to have done what he has done?

  “Was there any gang up or trace that they are trying to cover up? These are some of the theories God will help us unravel as time progresses. The Police have not given us any official reason for shooting him dead.”

  He added later: “The insinuation that the suspect was handed over to the Police alive and he was shot dead by a policeman as an attempt to malign the efforts of the policemen during the attack is just an attempt to malign the DPO in charge of Auchi. That is an attempt to dent all the work that they have done. During the attack, nobody knew anybody and the Police were there to prevent any form of attack on anybody.

  “The Police have a job to protect life and property; it is their constitutional duty. The action of the Police was impromptu, the action was going on when the Police attended to the distress call and right there at the scene of the crime, everything took place.

  “I never heard of any information that the suspect was handed over to the Police. Let them (those who apprehended the suspect) come out and make clarification for that. That is not true, it is just hearsay; if anyone has a contrary opinion on that, let them come out and tell the world.”

Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abutu Yaro, has ordered the withdrawal of the DPO (Ayodele Suleiman) over the death of the suspects.

  A Police spokesperson in the state, Jennifer Iwegbu, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, October 22, saying: “As part of the measures of the Command concerning the circumstances that led to the death of the surviving members of the monstrous gang that attacked the convoy of Suleman, the outgoing Commissioner of Police (now AIG) Abutu Yaro, has ordered withdrawal of the DPO of Auchi with immediate effect and that he would be interrogated at the Police headquarters over the incident.”

  His withdrawal followed condemnation of the hasty killing of the suspect, who the Police said had claimed was one of the attackers the Police said were kidnappers and was killed during a shootout with Police operatives.

  However, the cleric insisted that they were not kidnappers, but assassins.