Aso Villa: Presidency Confirms Robbery Attack

By Fola James

The Presidency has confirmed reports of an attempt by armed robbers to burgle the residence of the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, early Monday morning.

Gambari, a former Nigeria’s Permanent Representatives to the United Nations, UN lives in his official residence, close Aso Villa, the nation’s seat of power.

Confirming the report that some hoodlums tried to rob the President’s Chief of Staff, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said in a tweet that the suspected criminals tried to break into the residence in the wee hours of Monday.

Shehu said in his verified official twitter handle that, “The Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari has confirmed that there ‘was a foolish attempt’ to burgle his residence at 3:00am this morning but it turned out to be unsuccessful. Professor Gambari, whose house is on a street next to the Villa has assured that there is nothing to worry about from the incident.”

A news platform, Peoples Gazette, had reported that armed robbers invaded Aso Rock and emptied Gambari’s residence as well as the residence of an Administration Officer in the Presidency, Abubakar Maikano.

“The robbers took away as much as possible from both places,” a security officer that confirmed the incident said. “What is more unfortunate is that no one has been arrested,” the news platform had reported.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has recently come under fire over the escalating insecurity in the country, with many losing confidence in the ability of Buhari, a retired military commander, who won the 2015 and 2019 general elections with the promise of ending the kidnappings, killings, banditry, and other crimes in the country,” the online news platform reported.