Yahaya Bello planning to kill me – Dino Melaye
Senator Dino Melaye representing the Kogi West senatorial district, on Wednesday, said Governor Yahaya Bello was planning to kill him.
Melaye alleged that information at his disposal points that the governor was planning to kill him using some his Aide de Camp, the state police commissioner and the officer in charge of SARS in the state.
Melaye made this allegation Monday while chatting with newsmen in his country home, Aiyetoro.
The senator also alleged that the governor”s plan was to stop him from campaigning for his reelection in next year general election.
However governor Yahaya Bello has descried the allegation as a blatant lie and arrant noise aimed at drawing unnecessary attention to him and urged the Senator to leave him out of his problems.
Speaking with newsmen yesterday on the recent invasion of his house at Ayetoro-Gbede some days ago by some security agents, he said that the governor has instructed the security agents in the state to arrest him whenever he visited the state.
He noted that the plan of the governor was to keep him away from the state so that he will not be able to campaign for his reelection.
“The governor wants me out of circulation, he doesn’t want me around to campaign for my reelection. Information reaching me is that he wants me to be arrested, arraigned by a Kangaroo court, locked up and then I wouldn’t be able to campaign
“I have written the President, United Nations, UK embassy, CJN, AU, ECOWAS, German, Canadian embassies. This is the fourth assassination attempt on my life.
“I was in Lokoja on the fateful Thursday, I drove past the Government House after a one hour meeting with Senator Ogbeha resident in GRA, my convoy and that of the Governor met and at the end of the day they did not arrest me in Lokoja.
“I was in Koton-Karfe where I had a meeting in the residence of Musa Ahmodu, former SSG, I was also in Gegu where I had a meeting. Only for my house to be invaded at 1.00am, thank God that I had an Intent that they were coming, if not they were to come and kill me.
“I was in Lokoja throughout the afternoon they could not arrest me and my house is known to everybody. I have been moving around as a free Nigerian, my office is known to people so if they want to arrest me over something that happened July, 19th and all these while they have not taken any proactive step only to burgle into my residence at 1am with 30 SARS some of whom were not in uniform.
“It was obvious that it was another assassination attempt like they did on the 18th of July, On that 19th of July I was with some persons on my convoy when they opened fire on us.
“I was a victim of an assassination attempt and am being invited to answer some questions, is that not funny?.
“They opened fire on my car spraying it with bullets, if not for the bullet proof and the grace of God but they have turned around to say that I sponsored hoodlums to attack policemen who were on duty.
Mean while, governor Bello urged the embattled Senator representing Kogi West to face his problems with the Nigerian Police and stop “hanging them on innocent people”.
Addressing journalists in Lokoja over the allegations by the Senator that the Governor of the State was behind his travails, the Director General of Media and Publicity to the Governor, Kingsley Fanwo dismissed such as “untrue, illogical and a desperate attempt by the sinking Senator to whip up sentiments”.
“We have decided to allow Dino Melaye sink alone. We are not prepared to sink with him. He can’t lean on the State Government to reawaken his dead political career.
“The cases between the Nigeria Police and Dino Melaye are well documented. None of them has anything to do with either the State Government or the Governor. Nigerians are used to such spurious allegations and blackmail for political gains.
“This is a Senator who said he stayed on a tree for eleven hours. This is a Senator who framed his own constituents on an assassination charge which was later thrown out by a competent court of law of jurisdiction.
“As a Government, we are preoccupied by our desire to make the State one,” he added.
Also reacting to the allegation, the state police commissioner, Ali Janga said nobody was planning to kill the senator but the senator has been implicated in a a criminal case and he has to come for interrogation