Fate, it would seem, averted a major catastrophe on August 18, when the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Investment, Senator Jummai Aisha Alhassan escaped unhurt in Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State, where her convoy was attacked and the rear windscreen of two of her vehicles shattered.

The minister was in Takum to monitor the state assembly bye-election to fill the vacant seat previously occupied by Mr Hosea Ibi, who was kidnapped and later killed early this year.

According to Alhassan, she was on her way to one of the polling units when her convoy was attacked by people riding in a government-owned Hilux van, who started hurling stones at the vehicles in the convoy, and in the process shattered the rear windscreen of the SUV conveying her and the state chairman of the party, Mr Abdulmumini Vakki.

Alhassan alleged that the thugs who attacked her were brought in by the state government; but disclosed that no one was hurt in the attack.

In a swift reaction, however, the state governor, Darius Ishaku, through his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Bala Dan Abu, said that the “allegation by the minister of women affairs was malicious, unfounded, ill-informed and unnecessary.”

Noting that Ishaku is a Democrat who believes that election is the vehicle for political recruitment, Dan Abu said the governor would not stoop so low as to recruit hoodlums to attack the minister for any reason as he sees the minister as no threat to his victory in his hometown and considers her as a sister.

But the minister who had previously spoken with Sunday Sun, said that she got wind of plans by the state government to bring in thugs and had informed the Commissioner of Police in the state, David Akinremi, who promised to make sure that adequate care was taken to forestall any breach of security.

She described the attack on her as a frustrated attempt by the government as a result of the rousing welcome she received in the governor’s hometown and the related rejection that the governor is having to put up with from his people.

“My convoy was attacked by thugs hired by the Taraba State government. These thugs were brought in from Wukari, Bali and Jalingo, just to cause confusion when the governor saw clearly that his people had rejected him in his hometown and had given me and my people a rousing welcome and continued to cheer us wherever we went.
While the governor and minister trade blame, the important questions that have remained unanswered are: who really attacked Senator Aisha Alhassan in Takum? What could have motivated the attack by government as the minister alleged? Or was the entire scene stage-managed for political reasons of some sort?

•Excerpted from a Sunday Sun report