There was a palpable panic amongst members of the ongoing National Conference yesterday when a member said that he received a threat message from Boko Haram terrorists.
The delegate, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), told the conference that he received a message on his telephone threatening an “attack bigger than Nyanya blast” and sought the permission of the Chairman of the confab, Justice Idris Kutigi (retd.), to read the message.
Kutigi granted the permission and Ozekhome accordingly read the text.
The message read: “News got to us that our enemy is planning something bigger than Nyanya blast between Tuesday and Wednesday, in Abuja. Mind your movement and be careful. The date is still unknown. Please, pass it around to save loved ones.”
After listening to the text of the message, one of the delegates, who asked not to be named, shouted, “We are in trouble in this country. Bombing everywhere; when will this stop? Even here, we don’t know what is going to happen. Things are so bad in the country. Things are so bad.”
Many of the delegates were seen discussing the development in hushed tones but with panic on their faces.
Another delegate, Obi Onoliefo, had on Thursday last week, raised the issue of safety of delegates when, having looked at the perimeter of the National Judicial Institute, observed that there were no security operatives manning them.
Onoliefo, therefore, called for security operatives to be drafted to the perimeter fences to forestall insurgents from breaking into the premises and causing bloodshed.
[myad]
