The nation’s security system was thrown into another serious embarrassment on Monday as a man suspected to be mentally deranged attacked former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The incident occured at about 8am, when the unnamed suspect forced open the door of a car conveying Obasanjo from the airport and jumped into the vehicle. Obasanjo, who had just arrived from the airport from a trip, was being driven in a convoy out of the presidential wing when he was attacked.
According to eyewitnesses, the alleged attacker sneaked up to the car in which Obasanjo was riding when it slowed down to join the road linking the international airport with the old domestic terminal. After jumping into the car, the suspected attacker was said to have grabbed Obasanjo.
THE PUNCH learnt that it took the timely intervention of Air Force officers and security aides attached to Obasanjo to save the former president from harm. He was later surrounded off by a team of security men.
The attacker, who appeared to be in his forties, could not say exactly what prompted him to attack the former general. The alleged attacker was taken to the military commander’s office at the airport and later transferred to the airport’s police station.
The Commissioner of Police, Airport Command, Mr. Chris Ola, confirmed the incident on the telephone.
He said, “The incident was a security breach. We have commenced an investigation into the incident to ascertain if there were some people behind the attack.
“We can’t ascertain if the man is a lunatic becauise you can’t call somebody a lunatic unless a medical excamination proves.”we will take him for medical examination tomorrow (today).”
Before the incident, the suspect was said to have been wandering aimlessly around the airport.
Culled from Punch Newspaper
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