Mai Mala Buni, the governor of Yobe State in the Northeast, escaped death on the whiskers as heavily armed men suspected of being Boko Haram fighters ambushed his security convoy along the Jakana-Mainok expressway in Borno State, MUK TV has learned.
One policeman was killed and six others injured in the ugly incident, as reported by The Punch.
It was gathered that the governor’s security team was on the convoy that escorted him to Maiduguri for the 24th Convocation ceremony of the University of Maiduguri, where Vice-President Kashim Shettima was conferred with an honorary doctorate degree.
The terrorists, who had laid ambush for Governor Buni, were, however, unaware that after the event, the governor stayed behind in Maiduguri while preparing for another official event in Abuja, but directed his convoy to return to Yobe.
Mamman Mohammed, the spokesman for the governor, confirmed to newsmen that his principal’s security details were ambushed.
Mohammed said, “They fired some shots, but the security escorting the governor’s official vehicles back to Damaturu exchanged fire with the three policemen who sustained injuries.”
He added that the security operatives could repel the attack and that those injured were responding to treatment.
However, the number of casualties in the shoot-out could rise above the official figures.