Mother luck smiled on former Kogi state acting governor, Chief Clarence Olafemi yesterday as he narrowly escaped being killed by armed robbers
According to an eye witness account, Obafemi was coming from his Mopa country home where he hosted friends and political associates and was returning back to Lokoja when he ran into the hoodlums
The account said the armed robbers numbering about 12 had flagged down the former governor at about 3.30 pm along Kabba – Okene highway and shot severally on his Sport Utility vehicle before he managed to escape
The widescreen of his vehicle was said to have been shattered by bullets while some parts of the vehicle were also said to have been seriously damaged, but there was no injury sustained neither was there any loss of life
When contacted on phone, the former speaker who is popularly known as ‘ Obembe’ confirmed the incident and said he had already had a premonition of the ugly incident when he told his driver to be more alert while plying the road
But few minutes later they ran into some motorists who they thought, their vehicle developed a mechanical problem, when one of the robbers in disguise jumped into the road and beckoned to them to pass
Unknown of the dangers ahead they followed the instruction of the robbers, only to be flagged down abpruntly , but as they made attempt to rob them the driver zoomed off from the scene, only to be bombarded by volley of bullets
Olafemi, who was full of praises to God for saving his life and his driver, however called on the police to be more alive in their responsibilities to the citizenry
In another development, the former governor in his new year message urged president Goodluck Jonathan to do everything possible not to allow the PDP break into pieces
In a press statement personally signed by the former governor, he said he had warned the PDP national leadership early this year that unless there was internal discipline ,democracy and justice within the party , the party was bound to explode and break into pieces
” A party which does not pay much premium on party leadership but rely on the dictates of political office holders, a party which has no internal cohesion and mechanism to resolve crisis is bound to collapse suddenly” he added
He said if the party had heeded to his warning, the recent mass movement of political office holders from PDP to APC would have been averted stressing that president Jonathan can still do a lot through genuine reconciliations to bring the party back to its old glory
“We must strive for unity, genuine peace and total reconciliation, we need peace because, a troubled Nigeria brings bad omen to west Africa sub region, because if we run Nigeria aground, no country around us will be able to accommodate our refugees
” Our leaders must at this stage be very cautious, Nigeria is bigger than any individual or political position, we must not destroy it” he warned
