Delta Speaker Escapes Assassination!

Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Victor Ochei, yesterday at Obomkpa in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, escaped unhurt in  an assassination attempt, as  one of two locally made improvised explosive devices (I.E.D.) exploded and critically injured a female aide to one of the Speaker’s associates who is a native of the town.

 
Ochei, who was on a thank you tour of his Aniocha North Constituency, had barely finished exchanging pleasantries with political faithful at the Eke Market square  when a loud explosion and its attendant smoke threw the crowd into pandemonium. According to a source at the scene, Ochei had not taken his seat immediately on arrival, as he was busy exchanging greetings when the canon which was ignited and propelled from the rear trajectory to the Speaker’s seat on the front row, was however, inhibited by chairs which even though were shattered provided some inhibition.
It was also gathered that the projectile was wrapped in white satin materials, which made early detection impossible, as the chairs and tables were also decorated in white materials.
The victim whose left ankle was fragmented as a result of the explosion was immediately rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, by the Speaker’s pilot vehicle but subsequently she was transferred to the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara for further medical attention. Later,  reports indicated that the victim was in a stable condition just as doctors were battling to avert amputating her limbs.
Unfolding facts reveal that a prominent female politician of Obomkpa extraction had the previous night (Thursday), dispatched emissaries with financial inducements to the natives, urging them to shun the proposed parley with Ochei, a move discreetly connected with the rising political profile of the legislator.
However, a suspect John Oyibo Achuzia Ijei, a native of neighbouring Ugboba town who is believed to be a blood relation to the female politician, is already helping the security operatives in unravelling the details of the act.
Nonetheless, the blast had no effect on the occasion as the people trooped out en masse to welcome the Speaker, whom they described as the divinely designated messiah and an avowed advocate of progressive representation.