Moshood, Police PRO

The Nigeria Police Force said it had arrested and detained four of its personnel and one NSCDC personnel on duty when the alleged assassination attempt on the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, took place.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ekweremadu, his wife and son, allegedly escaped assassination attempt at their Apo residence of Abuja early hours of Nov. 6.

NAN also recalls that Ekweremadu narrowly escaped an alleged attempt on his life in Abuja on Nov. 17, 2015.

Acting DCP Jimoh Moshood, the Force  Public Relations Officer, who disclosed this while addressing newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the officers were being investigated.

Moshood said that there was no cover-up by the police in the investigation of the crime.

“The four policemen and one personnel of the NSCDC on duty at the residence of the deputy senate president at the time of the incidence have been arrested and detained,”he said.

He said that it was not correct that the police responded after seven hours when the incident happened.

The spokesman said that further investigation shows that the incident was not an assassination attempt on the life of Ekweremadu.

“Update on further investigation did not reveal assassination attempt, but a burglary attempt,” he said.

He said that the investigation carried out so far showed that the suspects in the case did not have idea that the residence belong to the deputy senate president.

Moshood said that efforts are being intensified to arrest the second suspect, Dan Ali, who escaped from the scene of the crime.

Speaking to newsmen, the principal suspect, Mohammed Yusuf, 25, said that they only went there to steal and not to assassinate him.

“We did not go to the residence of Ekweremadu to assassinate him or any body in the house,” he said.

He said that he has being into this act of stealing for five years without using gun, adding that his colleague (Dan Ali) escaped while he was caught.

Moshood said that the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has directed the upgrade of Apo legislative quarters outpost to a divisional police headquarters.

Others upgraded include Supreme Court, Kabusa and Trademore estate.

He said that the upgrade was to reduce crime and criminalities in the affected areas and improve police visibility in the FCT.