Nine Injured as Plateau Speaker Escapes Assassination

It was by sheer providence that the Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. John Clark Dabwan, on Tuesday night cheated death, as some unknown gunmen came for his head during an evening church service at Christian Rural and Urban Development Association of Nigeria (CRUDAN) worship centre, in Jos South Local Government Area of the state.

Dabwan, who narrowly escaped the attack, could not thank God enough for the escape as no fewer than nine other worshippers went down with various degrees of injuries from gunshots, and are now being battled back to life by a team of specialist doctors at the state specialist hospital in Jos.

Eyewitnesses, who nervously narrated their ordeal, said the gunmen entered into the centre, and freely wielded their dangerous weapons demanding the whereabouts of the Speaker.

They alleged that Dabwan drove into the premises and shortly after, the attackers followed and began shooting sporadically into the crowd of worshippers thereby injuring them in the process.

It was not immediately known if the attackers were armed robbers, who only wanted to extort money from the Speaker or whether they are assassins.

But another witness said the way and manner the men demanded for the Speaker spelt more meaning than a people that came just to rob. “We noticed that all was not well when we spotted the men who vigorously and repeated demanded for the Speaker in loud tone.”

He said: “Meanwhile, some of us were not even aware that the Speaker was in the congregation before the incident. And how the he managed to sneak out quickly before anyone could identify him is still a mystery.”

It took the intervention of members of the Special Task Force (STF) who scared away the attackers, that held the worshippers hostage and hell bent on capturing the Speaker.

The STF men from the Lomay Hotel area conveyed the injured persons to the hospital after the attackers had escaped, even as no arrest was immediately made.

Confirming the incident, the chief press secretary to the Speaker, Nandak Shingle, said the Speaker was there at the church when the gunmen struck, adding that he was however not hurt.

But the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Emmauel Onuigbo, could not be reached for further confirmation as he was not picking his calls.