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The home of the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Domestic Matters, Mr. Waripamowei Dudafa was invaded by unidentified gunmen on Saturday. The bandits carted away an undisclosed amount of money after destroying the safe kept in one of his rooms.
It was gathered that the gunmen, 10 in number, dressed in police uniform, stormed the residence of the president aide in Okaka Estate, Yenagoa, around 8pm.
It was further learnt that the three policemen guarding the residence were not around when the robbers came. It gave the gunmen an opportunity to gain entry into Dudafah ‘s residence as they told the security men (civilians) that they were policemen from the police headquarters.
When they got into the premises, they were said to have grabbed the Chief guard, Muhammed Garba, tied his legs, his hands and covered his eyes and mouth.
An eyewitness, who craved anonymity, said the attack on Dudafah’s home was politically motivated.
He said the incident took place few minutes after results of some rescheduled House of Assembly elections were released and Dudafah’s candidate on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance defeated his Peoples Democratic Party opponent in Kolokuma-Opokuma constituency.
Narrating his ordeal, Garba, who said he had been working with Dudafah for eight years, said the suspects came in two black Sport Utility Vehicles.
His words: “The robbers knocked on the door, saying, Where is the security man, where is the security man? When I asked who they were, they said they were policemen. They asked the whereabouts of the police security operatives in Dudafah residence.
“They ordered me to open the gate. I opened the small gate and saw about 10 of them. They pushed me and gained entry into the premises. They hit me in the head. They tied my hands, my legs and covered my mouth and eyes with celotape. They asked me to show them the apartments of police security in the building. They also asked for oga’s (Dudafa’s) house keys. I told them I did not know where they were since I was not the person keeping them.
“They said they would kill me if they eventually found the keys in my place so I kept quiet. After ransacking my room, they found the keys and started using them to open the main building.
“The man leading the operations, asked his colleagues to talk gently so that when my colleague who had gone to buy noodles at that time returned, he would not suspect something was amiss. No sooner had they said that than my colleague came in, and they caught him and tied him up.”