Police response to security issue worrisome, says Ekweremadu

Nigeria’s Deputy Senate president Ike Ekweremadu on Tuesday said the level of security in the country does not guarantee the safety of its citizens.

Ekweremadu, his wife Nwanneka and son had earlier survived an assassination attempt at his residence in the country’s capital, Abuja.

“The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, his wife, and son escaped an assassination attempt at about 4 am on Tuesday,” Ekweremadu’s media aide Uche Anichukwu said in a statement.

However, Ekweremadu said the response from security operatives to the incident was poor and worrisome.

The lawmaker said the security of the citizens is not in the hands of government but God.

“We handed that one (suspect) over to the police investigating the matter. The annoying aspect of it or the one that is worrisome is that at that point, I called the inspector-general of police (IGP), his phone was off,” Ekweremadu said during Tuesday’s plenary.

“It was about 4 am this morning that some people evaded the security in my house and got all the way to my room where I was sleeping with my wife. There was a struggle, there was a fight with heavy commotion and by the grace of God, we eventually caught one of them and the rest escaped.

“I called some of his aides, their phones rang out and nobody replied till now. I called DIG operations, till I left my house nobody showed up,” Ekweremadu said.