Tuesday, 05 March 2013 00:00

Written by Emeka Okafor

Abia State Government on Monday described as a hoax, the purported shooting at the gate of the Camp Naya country home of former Governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu over the weekend.

Addressing a press conference in Umuahia, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Dr. Eze Chikamnayo, described the reported attack on the aide of the former governor as a fabricated story.

According to a newspaper report, unknown gunmen on Saturday, allegedly stormed the Igbere country home of Kalu and riddled the bus in which one of his aides was travelling with bullets.

The incident reportedly occured around 10 pm at the main entrance of the former governor’s residence, where the aide had stopped for the security men to open the gate for him to drive in.

Pastor Chukwudi Okoroafor, the aide, was quoted as saying that the gunmen who rode on a motorcycle, trailed him to the gate of Camp Neya Estate and opened fire on the bus he was driving, believing he was still inside the vehicle.

In a swift reaction, Chikamnayo, said that the purported attack on Kalu's aide "is a fabrication from the pit of hell which only happened at the gate of his cerebral imagination".

He urged the general public to disregard the report which according to him was aimed at raising false alarm to create a false impression that there is insecurity in the state.

Chikamnayo, therefore, advised the former governor to give respect to his former office and behave like a statesman whose voice should rather be of modulation instead of instigating crisis or crying wolf where there is none.

Meanwhile, when contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer ( PPRO), Abia State, Mr. Geoffrey Ogbonna, said a formal report about the incident was yet to be received by the police.

He said that if there were any incidents like that, the victim ought to report same to police for investigation, adding that he had no detail of the matter yet.