SO MUCH FOR FRESH AIR IN THIS COUNTRY : Gov survives gun attack ... DailyTrustNews

Barely one week after Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako escaped death by the whiskers at Shuwa Village, his Benue State counterpart, Gabriel Suswam, yesterday survived a gun attack targeted at his convoy while he was travelling to assess the level of destruction in Guma Local Government Area.
Suswam’s attackers are suspected to be Fulani herdsmen who have been in a state of “war” with the indigenous Tiv communities of Benue State. Over 20 villages have been sacked by the Fulanis, a situation which prompted our exclusive story of last Monday when Gov. Suswam was raising the alarm that if he had not restrained the Tivs, there would have been bloodbath.
Governor Suswam who took off from Makurdi, the state capital in company with the Police Commissioner Adams Audu and some soldiers from the 72 Battalion around 10am yesterday, proceeded through Daudu town and was greeted at Ukpan community by an early morning invasion of Fulani herdsmen where they killed not less than 30 people, destroyed yam barns and burnt several houses.
But the soldiers withdrew from the trip at Ukpan, saying they did not receive directive to go any further even as the governor decided to proceed on the journey.
Shortly after leaving Ukpan, the governor’s convoy stopped at Tse-Kenyi where some houses had been set ablaze by the Fulani herdsmen. He was still assessing the level of damage when suddenly, the herdsmen who were grazing in the area started shooting sporadically to register their presence.
Immediately, the governor, all the top government officials including the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Terhile Ayua, the Commissioner for Lands and Survey, John Tondo, Suswam’s personal physician, Dr, Ortese as well as all security agents and newsmen on the convoy took cover while policemen shot canisters at the rampaging Fulani herdsmen.
Subsequently, the governor was shielded into his vehicle by his Chief Detail and other security aides while all drivers on the entourage were ordered to leave the area immediately.
It took the intervention of policemen and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCD) personnel who continued to return fire for fire until everyone on the convoy escaped.
Speaking at Gbajimba, Suswam who lamented the level of destruction which had rendered several thousands homeless in the state, appealed for calm and promised to support the victims.
Recall that Governor Nyako had while speaking on the Adamawa Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio programme “Taba Kidi Taba Karatu”, last Wednesday had said that he narrowly escaped death in Shuwa, one of the villages he visited to condole with the victims of Boko Haram terrorism. But the Military High Command in Abuja faulted the governor’s claim. He insisted that the Shuwa incident was an attempt to kill him. The governor said the attackers were asking “which vehicle is conveying the governor?”
He said: “My security details had to whisk me away swiftly. In the ensuing pandemonium, some persons coming in the direction of the gunfire, are heard asking which vehicle was conveying me?”