Five feared assassinated in Kogi State

The Kogi State Co-ordinator of Roll Back Malaria, Mr. Jonathan Ochimana, has been assassinated in Ajaokuta by unknown gunmen while returning from an advocacy visit to Idah.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that four other persons were earlier gunned down by the hoodlums with their corpses littering the federal highway.

Ochimana, until his demise, was a staff member of the state Ministry of Health, running a partnership with an organisation, Health Communication Capacity (HCC), to assist vulnerable people in the society against malaria and other medical challenges.

He died of gunshot wounds after his official Toyota Hilux vehicle was attacked by the assailants.

According to a witness account, the vehicle, which was also conveying three other workers of the ministry, ran into the gunmen about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday just after exiting the vicinity of the Ajaokuta Steel complex.

The witness said on descending from the highway, the entourage beheld a horrible sight of four lifeless bodies on the road with the four doors of another Hilux van ajar, adding that they were visited with sporadic gunshots from the nearby bush while attempting to make a detour, leading to the death of Ochimana who was hit by bullets on the passenger’s seat.

The Guardian learnt that efforts to save him were futile, as he had lost so much blood before help could come his way.

The state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Chafe, who confirmed the incident, however, blamed the team for late reporting.

“He died as a result of bullet wounds. Being an emergency, they did not report till almost after 24 hours and they took the corpse to the hospital without police report,” he said.