A former Senator representing Rivers South-East constituency, Lee Maeba, has alleged that thugs broke into his Port Harcourt residence, shot and damaged his properties.

The politician, in a video seen by Peoples Gazette on Thursday, narrated that he had visited the city to attend to his family and other events before several thugs invaded his residence in what he describes as an assassination attempt. 

“They shot at the gate and forced the gate open. They climbed the second gate and tied up the security man, took his phone and were shouting where is he? One bullet will solve this Atiku problem,” Mr Maeba told reporters in the aftermath of the attack. 

While the identity of the thugs and their sponsors remain unknown, the attack comes amidst continuous clampdown on supporters of Atiku Abubakar, flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the actualisation of threats that had been issued by the state governor, Nyesom Wike. 

Mr Maeba is a leading figure among Rivers State’s PDP chieftains that have defied Mr Wike’s upheaval against Mr Atiku’s candidacy to support the former vice president in his 2023 presidential bid. 

In November, Mr Wike, through the state’s Ministry of Land and Survey, revoked the senator’s occupancy permit issued over his property in a reserved residential area of the state. 

Mr Maeba described the attack on his house as undemocratic and added that he and his team are still trying to find out more details. 

“I only work for Atiku; yes, I am an Atiku supporter, but what has that got to do with attacking my house in a bid to kill me? This is a democracy, I am a democrat, and I don’t have a plan to attack anybody,” he said.