Dr Paul Orhii
Unknown gunmen pursued the convoy of the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Dr. Paul Orhii, at Garaku, along the Akwanga-Abuja Road in Nasarawa State, on Saturday.
Orhii, who was said to be the target of the failed attack, escaped being hit as his security details were said to have repelled the gun attack.
The incident occurred when Orhii was returning to Abuja after inaugurating the renovated Lessel Local Government Authority Primary School, in Lessel, Ushongo Local Government Area of Benue State.
The NAFDAC Deputy Director, Public Relations Unit, Alhaji Abubakar Jimoh, who broke the news in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Sunday, said that the school was the DG’s Alma Mater.
The inauguration coincided with the burial of the DG’s elder brother, who died on Friday. The DG was said to have rallied his friends, who contributed to the renovation of the dilapidated primary school after many years of dilapidation.
Jimoh said the NAFDAC boss had invited the donors and well wishers to his village for the inauguration.
He said, “The DG was heading back to Abuja on Saturday when his security details observed that a Mercedes C class was closing up on our convoy around Akwanga village in Nasarawa State.
“The security detail discovered that the driver of the car was driving menacingly in a desperate bid to overtake us, which alarmed the security men and others close to the scene.
“Then, when we got to Garaku, a village after Akwanga, the driver of the Mercedes leveled up with the Sport Utility Vehicle conveying the DG and the gunmen brought out their rifles.
“But, a trailer suddenly emerged from the opposite direction and faced the assailants. That was our saving grace. Seeing death staring them in the face, they veered into the bush.”
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