Armed Men Invade Rivers State Assembly Speaker’s Home In Suspected Assassination Bid

A group of armed men invaded Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker Edison Ehie's home in Port Harcourt on Sunday night and opened fire. The speaker escaped unhurt.

Ken Uchendu, legislative correspondent of the House of Assembly, said Monday that the attack was an assassination attempt on Ehie. The incident happened just a month after Ehie announced himself as the speaker.

Uchendu said a group of "armed thugs and police officers attached to the CTU B 3 RSV attacked the private residence" around 11:00 p.m. on Sunday with the intention to assassinate the speaker and his family, reported Punch.

The men dressed as police officers indulged in a gun battle with the speaker's security staff. They were fully armed and they were captured in the CCTV footage, which will soon be released to all media houses, Uchendu said.

No other details about the home invasion were available. It is unclear whether any damage or casualties occurred during the incident.

"Let it be on record that Rivers people, boys, girls, women, men including the aged shall in our numbers occupy the streets naked in demonstration against the Nigerian Police and those sponsoring violence in Rivers State, no matter how highly placed, Rivers people will resist them," Uchendu noted. "Finally, should there be a breakdown of law and order in Rivers State, President Bola Tinubu should hold the Rivers State Police Command and their sponsors in Rivers State responsible."

Armed men attacking houses, communities and hospitals is common in Nigeria. In September, gunmen entered three hostels at the Federal University Gusau in Zamfara and abducted 30 students, including 24 women.

Aside from kidnappings, gunmen have also been linked to attacks against communities and security officials in the country. For instance, unidentified gunmen killed at least eight security operatives in the Umualumaku community in the southeastern state of Imo in September.

Besides dealing with banditry, Nigeria also struggles with issues concerning illegal oil refineries. In September, eight vessels consisting of 100,000 liters of illegally refined diesel were seized during Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), conducted by the military joint task force in Rivers state.

In August, fuel stations in Lagos and Ogun witnessed long queues after thieves vandalized pipelines.