President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday put a call to former President Goodluck Jonathan to sympathise with him following an attack by gunmen on his Otuoke, Bayelsa State country home.
In the telephone conversation, President Buhari according to a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, expressed sadness over the “tragic and unfortunate attack,” during which a gallant soldier lost his life.
While commending the soldiers on guard for bravely repelling the attack, the President condoled with family members as well as officers and men of the Nigerian Army over the loss of one of the guards.
President Buhari assured that the protection of the life of the former leader and all citizens of the country will continue to be the major preoccupation of his administration.
Unidentified gunmen had yesterday attacked the country home of the former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in Otuoke Community of Ogbia local government area of Bayelsa State.
The attack, which occurred around 2am, occurred few hours after Jonathan decided to move to his Yenagoa home at about 12am.
Orbit gathered yesterday that the attack left the former President, Goodluck Jonathan, wondering which ‘sinister’ motive might have been behind the attack.
Our correspondent reports that the gunmen, numbering 20, were repelled by the military men stationed behind the house.
They launched the attack with a dynamite being thrown into Jonathan’s residence and it blew off the roof of a small cottage building inside the residence.
According to sources, two soldiers stationed behind the house confronted the armed and engaged them in heavy gun shootout. The gunmen were approaching the house when they were sighted by the soldiers.
“The gunmen calculated wrong when they went for the military gunboat but the gun was not mounted. The soldiers however sighted them.
“The gunmen opened fire on the soldiers and the soldiers replied. It was a heavy shootout. The Armoured Personnel Carrier(APC) positioned in front of the house, made a U-turn blaring siren to join the men behind the house.
“The soldiers, while engaging the gunmen at the back of the house, were not aware some gunmen were coming into the house on land. Those gunmen on foot shot dead a soldier and shot another in the leg.
“The gunmen, escaped after sighting the APC moving to re-enforce the soldiers. The gunmen abandoned a boat filled with blood. We asked an eyewitness at the jetty and we were told that the gunmen were moving some bodies of their colleagues into another boat,” a source told our correspondent.
Most of the indigenes of the Otuoke Community commended the soldiers for their gallantry at repelling such attack.
LEADERSHIP gathered that former President Goodluck Jonathan later arrived at the scene at about 3.30am in company of the Commander of the 3rd Brigade, Elele and the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police inspecting the damages.
Speaking after a tour of the damaged part of the house and commiserating with men of the Nigerian Army, the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan confirmed that the gunmen came in about five engine boats at the early hours of Tuesday.
According to Jonathan, in a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, the gunmen stormed the security post located about 100 metres away from former President Jonathan’s residence in his hometown Otuoke by 1:30 am on Tuesday and attempted to take away a gunboat belonging to the military stationed at the creek beside the residence.
“They were however resisted by gallant soldiers who engaged them in a fire fight. The gunmen who couldn’t stand the firepower of the military were forced to beat a retreat. One soldier, unfortunately, lost his life in the fight while another was injured. The injured soldier who is currently receiving treatment at a medical facility in Yenagoa is in a stable state,” he said.Copied
