Armed men attacked the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Mr. Larry Odey, at his official residence in Calabar on Tuesday night.
Though he and members of his household were lucky to have escaped unhurt, his security officers sustained gunshots while trying to disarm the assassins and in the process they sustained gunshots which were not fatal.
Odey, a governorship candidate under the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, has refused to speculate that the attack is the handiwork of political assassins.
He said, “I am not in a position to confirm that. The Police who have since launched investigations will have to tell us who the gunmen were. And how many have been arrested so far.”
A source said the gunmen successfully scaled the fence of the Speaker’s official residence and shot sporadically to scare the security men.
The source said, “The assailants’ bullets hit his bullet-proof door where he was. The hoodlums were actually very daring. They scaled the fence and actually shot at where the Speaker was, but his door, of course, is bullet-proof and the pellets hit the door and that saved the situation.
“The Speaker’s police escort who intercepted them was shot in the hand and he is presently receiving treatment in the hospital.”
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Hogan Bassey, confirmed the incident, saying investigation was on to unravel the perpetrators.
“Yes, there was a problem in his house and one of our men was shot. We are investigating the matter at the moment,” he said.