A Â few hours after Governor Celestine Omehia swore in 23 Commissioners to form his cabinet, one of them, Mr. Billy Braide Eldre, who is the Commissioner for Energy, has escaped assasination.
According to the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, an unidentified man celebrating his appointment with the family at the commissioner’s home in Diobu, Port Harcourt was shot dead in the bid.
“He was celebrating with his friends in his Diobu residence when the gunmen arrived apparently to assasinate him. They started shooting and in the process killed a man who came to celebrate with him”, Ogbaudu explained.
He said the gunmen retreated immediately after their bid to kill Eldre failed and escaped before the police from Diobu Station could arrive at the scene.
He told THISDAY that the Commissioner was not hurt in the incident but did not say where he has been kept to ensure that those who made the attempt on his life do not come back.
It was not clear how many people were wounded in the attack as the gunmen were said to have sprayed the compound with bullets during the attack.
Meanwhile, Governor Omehia has attributed the four-hour delay of the inauguration of the state cabinet to what he described as �damning security reports� against some of the nominees.
At least, two of the Commissioner nominees screened were not sworn but details of those affected were not available as Omehia did not elaborate on the issue which he mentioned in passing during the swearing in ceremony.