Comrade Solomon Oghenekume Okah, a former driver with the Federal Palace Hotels was the man behind the wheels on February 2, 1996, the day the publisher, The Guardian Newspapers, Alex was shot at severally by assassins. Okah narrated the incident to Seye Olumide and how they survived the attacks...You drove the car in which late Alex Ibru was shot in 1996, can you recall what happened that day and how you escaped'I left my home that very day unknown to me that evil people were lurking around to perpetrate their act. But as God would have it, we started the journey from Federal Palace Hotel at 6pm, our normal closing hour. I was called to drive him home and immediately we left we did not envisage any evil or thought that anybody was trailing us.I am convinced till today that the Spirit of God was with us on that day, otherwise Oga Ibru would have been killed with the two of us inside the vehicle that particular day.When we got to Ozumba Mbadiwe Road in Victoria Island, instead of driving straight and go through Falomo Bridge, as we normally moved, on that day, we decided to go down by the right and later climb the bridge. But as I was ascending the bridge I noticed that the road was free except a car that was coming behind us. I only noticed the car but I did not notice on time that some people were inside it. I cannot remember the type of car it was or the colour of the vehicle except how the security man that was inside the car with us later described it.As God would have it,I was almost getting to the edge of the Falomo Bridge thinking of going down and later move straight.Unknown to me, the right pointer of my vehicle was on and seeing this they presumed that I wanted to turn so the car leveled-up with us through my left side and the assassins opened fire on us. I realised there was danger and instead of going further straight, I drove down and sped off while the sporadic shooting continued. The entire windscreen of the vehicle I drove was shattered.As busy as Falomo area used to be, when people saw what happened, everybody ran for cover but I managed to drive the vehicle under the bridge, came down panting. Everybody around ran away. I asked the security man what we should do' He said we should take him to his house and I felt that was not the best decision as at that moment because Mr. Ibru was already in a pool of his own blood and gasping for breath. I gathered courage and some people around had started coming close to see what had happened. Some of them assisted to clear the road so that we could take him to hospital since he was still alive. Although movement was a bit difficult because many people abandoned their vehicle and ran for cover when the shooting started, we eventually saw the road was clear and I decided to go back to Federal Palace but along the way, near Bonny Camp I slowed down to tell one of our staff, who was going home to go back to office and inform them about what happened. There is one retainer hospital that we normally used, it was before Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) but as at that time, we had stopped using the hospital but because of what happened I had to carry him to the hospital since that was the available hospital I remembered at that moment.When we got there I called the doctor to come and see what happened but the doctor refused to admit him. I insisted that he must be admitted, saying this is the former Minister of Internal Affairs who had just been attacked by assassins; 'You better do something.' I told the doctor to give him first aid. So myself, the security man and some of the staff of the hospital held oga Ibru and carried him into the hospital and the doctor gave him drips. I quickly drove to inform them what happened at the hotel.There was a doctor in the Federal Palace then called Adio Moses, Dr. Alex Thomopulos and myself rushed back to the hospital and we made arrangement for his transfer to St. Nicolas Hospital.Immediately he was admitted in St. Nicholas Hospital I went to Falomo Police Station to report the incidence and this was around 7:30 pm. I was asked to give statement after which the police officers on duty detained me. Different kinds of people came from Abuja;I remember that the Deputy Commissioner of Police came ' I cannot remember his name; the DCO was there who took my statement and he tagged the statement 'attempted assassination.' But when the Deputy Commissioner of Police came, he queried the DCO for tagging my statement 'attempted assassination'; that he should have tagged it 'attempted robbery.'The DCP then asked me if I was ready to give another statement, which I declined and told him that the statement I gave was exactly what happened. They sent one inspector from SARS to come and pick me with handcuff but in the process of trying to put the handcuff on me, the police officers in Falomo Police Station got angry and objected. They said 'this is the man who saved the life of another person and took him to hospital; why do you want to handcuff him''The inspector then said I should take them to where the incidence happened. We went there and returned to the station. They also begged me to drive the car to Ikeja but I told them I could not drive again, that I was exhausted. But later when I realised that nobody wanted to drive the car I summoned courage to drive it to Ikeja but under serious security. When we got to Ikeja, Inspector Sodunke asked, 'Solomon, do you still have anything to say or add to your statement'' I said no.Later, I met the Assistant Commissioner of Police who ordered them to go and settle with me and release me.Sodunke then asked me to go but that if I noticed any strange movement around me or get any information, I should notify him immediately.The incidence happened on February 2, 1996 and on the following day, I was released. But my boss, 'may his soul rest in peace,' said he was not interested in the case and that if I was called, I should tell them that I was not interested since he was not interested. But then the Lagos State government invited me as a private person to be a state witness in the case. I attended the court several times.When did you start working with Alex Ibru' I was employed as a driver in the Federal Palace Hotel in 1993. Later, I was transferred to sales department. It was from there that I got attached to Ibru as driver between December 1995 and February 1996 when the incident happened.But it was rumored that you were sacked unceremoniously after saving his life. What really happened thereafter'That was not true. I began to feel unsafe within Victoria Island premises after the incident. People started asking me funny questions and I became an object of focus. Indeed, there were certain things happening around me that I did not really like. So, I asked for transfer and I was transferred to the laundry department at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers in Ikeja, which was not my profession. After some years, I asked to be transferred back to Federal Palace, which they did but now I was taken to the account department, as a storekeeper. It was fallacy that I was sacked. I resigned from Federal Palace on my own.With the little encounter you had with Ibru, what can you say about his person'I am happy for the life that he lived. This is a man who started early in life. He attained what a man can attain in his life before the age of 30. And I do not think he could have done more than he did during his time. He really made his life a kind of life that every reasonable human being should live. He did his best but my only regret today is that I was not allowed to share love with him the way I would have loved to do. When he came back from abroad after his treatment, I took loan from my management to go and visit him in Agbarha-Otor. He made a statement that has continued to make me happy till today anytime I remember. He asked me, 'Solomon who is this person' , I said David, the security man that was with us when the incident happened. He said that means David and Solomon were with me; angels of God were with me on that day. He later asked me to come with him to his office where he said, 'Solomon if for nothing at all, there is no day that my name, Alex , will be mentioned that your name Solomon, will not be mentioned'What did you mean when you said that you were not allowed to share love with him'When he returned from London nobody informed me. It was a doctor, I won't mention his name who told me, 'Solomon, your boss is back and people are around him you are supposed to be the closest person to him, the doctor told me what to do and I took loan and went to see him at Agbarha-Otor. After our meeting in Agbarha- Otor I did not have another opportunity to met him and share love with him until his death last week but I am sure wherever Alex Ibru is today, he will acknowledge the fact that God used me to add 16 more years to his life.Did you or the security man sustain any injury during the attack'No we did not sustain any injury. The car was only shattered. I want to appreciate and thank God for the life of Ibru. I pray that the family should not relent in doing those good things Ibru used to do in his lifetime. For the fact that he is dead does not mean that his legacy should die with him.
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