Otti Recounts Escape From 2015 Abuja Assassination Attempt

Abia State Governor Alex Otti has recounted how he came close to being killed by gunmen while he was seeking the governorship. According to Otti, approximately 12 assassins who were sent to kill him in Maitama, Abuja, in July 2015 did not succeed because he had departed the location shortly before the armed men got there. He gave the account in Umuahia on Thursday, September 24, at a solemn assembly and covenant renewal service that the Abia State Government held to dedicate the state again to God. Otti thanked God for sparing his life from the bullets fired by the gunmen. He said the attackers thought he was still in the building when they arrived, not realizing that he had already left. Otti said, "They shot two persons." He also recalled that the men were searching for him, but God had taken him away. They could not find him; they were about 12. They entered the adjoining compound and stripped the entire place, he said. They believed he was there, but he had left, he added. The governor said the solemn assembly was held to rededicate Abia State to God and to ensure the state remained in God's hands rather than with fetish idols and evil societies.