Nigeria Content Online

The four gunmen who
invaded Gbemisola Saraki’s Maitama home in the early hours of Sunday
are armed robbers and not assassins, the police have said.

Richard Ciroma, the
deputy commissioner of police in charge of investigation in the Federal
Capital Territory, made the claim yesterday in an interview.

He said police
investigators arrived at the conclusion after speaking with occupants
of the house who witnessed the incident. The police had taken Ms
Saraki’s aides present at the time of the attack into custody at the
Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) office in Abuja for interrogation.

Mr. Ciroma
explained that information gathered from their interrogation revealed
that the alleged armed robber entered into the compound when one of the
cooks “opened the gate to pick the phone he claimed to have left behind
in the car.”

He also pointed out
that the gunmen went away with five laptops and one Nissan vehicle
which the police recovered after it was abandoned within the city of
Abuja.

The position of the
FCT police buttresses the argument of Emmanuel Ojukwu, the national
spokesperson of the police. He too claimed it was a burglary attempt.

According to Mr.
Ciroma, the investigation into the matter is ongoing. He added that the
cook who had opened the gate has been detained but other aides have
been released.

Mr. Ciroma added
that the detained cook had aided the robbers after they gained entry
into the compound. He said that when the “assailants asked for the keys
to Ms Saraki’s room, the senior cook did not want to cooperate with the
robbers but the suspect revealed to the robbers that the key was with
the senior cook.”

Ms. Saraki who reportedly travelled out of Abuja some days before the attack remained silent on the issue throughout Monday.

Colleagues and other visitors were seen visiting her Maitama home but most were turned away.