By Charles Igbo
The driver who was taking Ahmed Gulak, the murdered APC Chieftain from Protea Hotel, Owerri, where he lodged, to Imo Airport, where he was to take a flight back to Abuja took an irregular route.
Gulak, a former Political Adviser to former President Jonathan, former Speaker, Adamawa House of Assembly, was murdered Sunday morning, around the Obiangwu Community, Ngor-Okpala LGA, close to the Airport.
According to a release by the Imo State Police Command, signed by its Spokesman, Bala Elkana, Gulak had left the Protea Hotel, Owerri, for the Airport, apparently, to catch the first flight to Abuja, in the company of two others.
He was not in an official car. He took a Cab, a Camry. He had no security personnel with him, and informed no security agency of his movement – a situation the Police say was not advisable, given the
security situation in the State, and his status.
Those who killed him were about six in number, and rode in a Sienna vehicle. They double-crossed the cab he rode in, properly identified him, before killing him instantly. He stood no chance of survival, as he was shot at close-range.
Following is the full text of the Police Release entitled:
MURDER OF AHMED GULAK BY ARMED BANDITS
“On the 30/5/2021, at about 07:20hrs, armed bandits intercepted and attacked a Toyota Camry cab carrying Ahmed Gulak and two others who were on their way to Sam Mbakwe Airport to catch a flight.
“Ahmed Gulak left his room at Protea Hotel without informing the Police nor sister agencies in view of the fragile security situation in the South East and Imo in particular. He left without any security escorts and while the cab driver took irregular route to the airport, six armed bandits who rode in a Toyota Sienna intercepted, identified and shot at Ahmed Gulak at around Umueze Obiangwu in Ngor-Okpala Local Government Area close to the Airport.
“The Commissioner of Police Imo CP Abutu Yaro, fdc has directed a discreet investigation into the matter as Tactical and Special forces have been deployed to cordone the area and arrest perpetrators.”
The fate of his two companions, and that of the Cab driver was not made known by the Police. They are probably unhurt, since the gunmen identified Gulak, their target, before they shot him.
It is also not known why he chose to take a cab to the Airport instead of an official Government car with enough security personnel, given his status as an APC chieftain, and, given, especially, the role he played in the emergence of Governor Hope Uzodinma as the APC Governorship candidate against former Governor Rochas Okorocha’s son-in-law, Uche Nwosu.
Moreso, the insecurity in the State, has been very bad, prompting many to conclude that the worsening insecurity is politically motivated – a conclusion the State Governor, Hope Uzodinma endorses.
Those who killed him must have trailed him from Ptotea Hotel. Being a Sunday, and given the near-curfew in the State due to the IPOB sit-at-home order, and the visibility of security personnel in Owerri and environs, it is not known why the Cab driver took an irregular route, as the Owerri-Aba road ought to have been traffic-free by that time of the day, and is closer to the Airport than the route he took.
…More Details expected.
