BEVERLY HILLS, May 11, (THEWILL) – Twin attempts by burglars to assail the residences of the Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, as well as that of the Administrative Officer, Abubakar Maikano, within the precincts of Aso Rock in Abuja, are ruffling feathers in the Villa.
Aso Rock sang different tunes on the clearly embarrassing incidents and did a series of tweeter summersaults.
Apparently, after the breaching of Gambari’s home on Monday, investigation on CCTV commenced and backtracking showed that four days earlier, an undetected attempt had similarly been made on Maikano’s residence.
Initially broken by an online medium, the news item was met with denial by a presidential media aide, Bashir Ahmad, who dismissed the report as fake.
However, the President’s Senior Special Assistant, Garba Shehu, later confirmed the report, but tried to make light of it, only to delete his initial tweet to replace it with a bland one.
Garba Shehu tweeted: “The Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari has confirmed that there ‘was a foolish attempt’ to burgle his residence at 3:00am this morning but it turned out to be unsuccessful.
“Prof Gambari, whose house is on a street next to the Villa, has assured that there is nothing to worry about from the incident.”
The robbers were said to have invaded the residence of the CoS, whose house is on a street next to the Presidential Villa, as early as 3am but they were said to have been repelled by security men on duty.
An online news outlet, People’s Gazette, had reported that the homes of both men were robbed on Sunday night, and robbers made away with goods from the residences.
Shehu’s initial tweet in fact confirmed the raid on Maikano, but said the assailant was recorded on the security cameras.
He tweeted: “UPDATE: The police, in a related development is searching for a suspected burglar who, as captured by CCTV, unsuccessfully attempted to break into the house of Maikano Abdullahi on Thursday, last week. Maikano lives on the same street with the Chief of Staff, close to the Villa.”
However, Garba later deleted the tweet and posted another that went silent on the raiders’ detection by CCTVs.
Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory Police Command has assured residents of a hitch-free Eid-El-Fitri celebration as it has taken proactive measures to contain any untoward action.
Police Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP Mariam Yusuf, in a statement in Abuja, enjoined residents to report all suspicious movements.
The statement read: “To ensure that residents of the Federal Capital Territory enjoy a hitch-free Eid-El-Fitri celebration, the FCT Police Command has deployed proactive measures within the city, especially at strategic places such as recreational parks/centres, worship centres and major highways.
“In line with that, the Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, has ordered uninterrupted patrols, diligent stop/search operations and coordinated intelligence-based crime fighting strategies within the FCT during the celebration.
“The command implores residents to report all suspicious movements, emergency or distress, through these numbers: 08032003913, 08061581938, 07057337653 and 08028940883 and to report the conduct of police officers, call the Public Complaint Bureau (PCB) on number 09022222352.”
