On Sunday, Governor Yahaya Bello’s security detail clashed with military personnel at a checkpoint.

Addressing journalists in the evening of Sunday, Mr Bello explained the incident on the Lokoja-Abuja highway as a “mere” altercation between his security details and some military personnel at a checkpoint.

But information commissioner Kingsley Fanwo, in a statement, alleged an assassination attempt on the governor along the Lokoja-Abuja road around 4:20 p.m. on Sunday.

Mr Fanwo had claimed that the assassins were in military uniforms during the attack, repelled by security operatives attached to the governor.

A contrary statement in Lokoja by Mr Bello’s media aide, Onogwu Mohammed, said, “What happened along the Lokoja-Abuja road was a minor disagreement between the security details attached to him and some military personnel providing security on the road.”

In an interview granted to journalists a few moments ago at his residence in Abuja, Mr Bello stated that there was no attempt to kill him. He clarified that while there was a “minor” fracas between the police attached to his convoy and the military personnel manning the highways, it was “in the course of both units performing their lawful security duties.”

The governor commended the security agencies for their joint contributions to the improved security of lives and property enjoyed by the residents of Kogi.

Mr Bello, however, called on the high command of the agencies involved to investigate overzealousness or unprofessional conduct by any of their men involved in the incident and apply the necessary sanctions.

The governor also called on residents of Kogi to ignore any attempt by political profiteers to use the incident to unsettle the polity as the state’s 2023 governorship elections slated for November 11 drew nearer.

He assured the state of his safety and the adequacy of security arrangements to ensure the elections were peaceful, free and fair.

(NAN)