A former director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiorfor, has faulted the police claim on the murder of Mr. Ahmed Gulak, an ex-political adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday in Imo State.
Abutu Yaro, the state commissioner of police had in a statement shortly after Gulak was shot dead by yet-to-be-identified gunmen on his way to the Sam Mbadiwa Airport, said the late chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) left his hotel without security escorts and had exposed himself to danger.
“On the 30/5/2021, at about 07:20hrs, armed bandits intercepted and attacked a Toyota Camry cab carrying Ahmed Gulak and two others who were on their way to Sam Mbakwe Airport to catch a flight.
“Ahmed Gulak left his room at Protea Hotel without informing the police or sister agencies in view of the fragile security situation in the South East and Imo in particular.
“He left without any security escorts while the cab driver took irregular route to the airport, six armed bandits who rode in a Toyota Sienna intercepted, identified and shot at Ahmed Gulak at around Umueze Obiangwu in Ngor-Okpala Local Government Area close to the Airport,” Yaro said in a statement sign by SP Bala Elkana, spokesperson for the Imo State police command.
However, Mike Ejiorfor, ex-director of the DSS has dismissed the statement as contradictory, saying it was illogical since the police authorities had recently directed withdrawal security details from Very Important Personalities (VIPs).
“The statement is contradictory. Is it not the same police that said people should not be given police escorts? That they are withdrawing all the security details? So what makes him special to be given escorts? And if he didn’t find it necessary to apply for police, why should they give him police?
“This is how all of us are going to be exposed. It is because it happens to be a VIP, otherwise, how many people have been killed before this while? So why must people be going out with police escorts? Ejiorfor queried.
Rather than seeking excuses for its failure to protect Gulak, the ex-DSS boss urged the police to ensure the performance of its mandate.
“We don’t need escorts; what we need is to provide security to enable everybody move around. Police should provide security for everybody”, he emphasized.
