Ben Nwankwo, a former House of Reps member who was recently appointed as the Chief of Staff to Anambra state Governor, Soludo, was moving in his convoy when he was attacked by suspected kidnappers disguised as police officers.
The gruesome attack happened on Sunday night, the 31st of May, when he was in his motorcade, which was moving along the newly built Amansea-Ufoma expressway.
According to sources close to the politician who spoke to I Get Talk, Ben Nwankwo was returning to Awka after attending an event at Ezika with other politicians, and his convoy chose to ply the expressway.
The source confirmed that his convoy approached a roadblock manned by the gunmen who were dressed as policemen. Ben, a native of Umunze Akpu, in Orumba South LGA of Anambra State, was in a vehicle in front of the convoy with his driver, and his police orderly was behind in a pickup truck.
IGetTalk learnt that the disguised gunmen allowed Ben’s vehicle to pass, but when his police orderly, who was behind, came up to the checkpoint, they discovered that the men behind the roadblock were impostors in official uniforms.
A confrontation ensued, and one of Ben’s police orderlies shot one of the fake officers. The others then return fire, which overwhelmed the police escort, killing two officers, excluding a townsman who was inside the vehicle. At least 5 people were killed in the attack.
As the shooting started, the vehicle carrying Ben Nwankwo, already in front of the chaos, sped off.
The source also claimed that another House member who was coming from the same event that Ben attended, who also took that route, was already held by the gunmen, but was still on the scene.
The unnamed politician was able to escape during the shootout with a gunshot wound.
Reacting to the attack, the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, issued an “Operation Fish Them Out” order to the police to arrest those responsible and give a meaningful feedback within 48 hours.
