►The incident, according to the police, occurred around Umuajata/ Amakamma road by Stella Inter-Communication, at the outskirts of Umuahia capital city.
►Police Public Relations Officer, Abia State, Geoffrey Ogbonna, who confirmed the incident, said the Commissioner was driving home around 8.05pm when the incident occurred .
According to police source, the Commissioner was reportedly overtaken by a group of gunmen in a Toyota Camry, who immediately opened fire on him on the lonely road.
The PPRO said, “The gunmen started shooting at him immediately and bullet touched his intestines. They continued shooting indiscriminately before escaping.”
Asked whether the assailants were assassins, kidnappers or robbers, the PPRO said, “From the look of things it was obvious they had a hidden agenda as they did not bother to remove any thing from him or collect his car , but investigations will unravel their real motive”.
Police said no arrests had been made but pleaded with members of the public to volunteer any useful information that might help security operatives track down the attackers.
At the Abia State Specialist Hospital where doctors are now battling to save the Commissioner’s life, Chief Medical Director of the hospital , Professor Augustus Mbanaso told PUNCH Metro that the Commissioner was badly injured at his intestines and femur .
The CMD said the victim’s condition was serious at the point he was rushed to he hospital but ” now stable after surgery was carried out on him”.
Said he, ” his intestines were shattered and his blood pressure was vey low when they brought him but we managed him till a level where surgery could be carried out.”
He said ” we had to infuse up to four pints of blood on him before taking him to the theatre”, adding that ” x- ray will be carried out on his femur to determine the extent of damage on his bone.
Mbanaso said he had been personally monitoring the patient on hourly basis , assuring that he is on stable condition.
He however said continued prayers were needed, noting that ” what we have done is to give medication but it is God that heals, so, we want everybody to keep praying for the quick recovery of the Commissioner.”
The CMD who said Gov. Theodore Orji had already visited the victim added that surgery had also been conducted on a woman who was affected by stray bullet of the assailants.
He said the surgery was successful and that the victim was also responding to treatment .
Asked how he was able to mobilise doctors to attend to the victims considering the on-going strike action by doctors nationwide , Mbanaso said the hospital was run under Public Private Partnership arrangement, hence, doctors were on hand to attend to patients.
