Gunmen attack residence of Edo commissioner, promise to return

Gunmen, suspected to be political thugs, have attacked the residence of the Commissioner for Youths, Hon. Damian Lawani in Udaba Ekphei Community, Etsako West Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo state.

Edo State Government had alerted the public on Monday, July 20, of alleged engagement of thugs by Comrade Oshiomhole and Captain Hosa Okunbo on the prompting of Ize-Iyamu, to cause mayhem in the state.

Special Assistant to governor Godwin Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy ,Crusoe Osagie also alleged that the attack on Lawani was part of the execution of the tasks handed to the thugs.
He said;

“The gunmen, who did not meet the commissioner at home, shot sporadically at other residents, destroying belongings and leaving Lawani’s family in pains with injuries.
“The assailants, who promised to return to inflict more pains on the commissioner and his family, dropped a message with the inscription: ‘Damian Lawani, you are lucky we did not meet you at home, but we promise that we are coming back for you. If you like tighten security.”

A resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the windows of the residence were shattered with bullets.

Narrating the incident, the resident said;

“The vehicle that brought them for the dastardly act was parked in front of the Udaba Ekphei Community Hall as it could not gain access to the road to Damian Lawani’s residence because of its deplorable nature from the tarred road.

“Perhaps, their informant(s) in the community on sighting the light in his compound thought that the commissioner was around and therefore, wrongly informed his or her principal(s) that Lawani was in the village. Hence, they came at about 11pm to carry out the dastardly act.

“The Udaba Ekphei community residents could not come out as a result of the sporadic gunshots. But we thank God that Hon. Damian Lawani was not actually around for the assailants to accomplish their devilish mission”, he added.

See photos .