High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, chairman of one of the leading news organisations in Nigeria, Daar Communications narrowly escaped death on Saturday, June 4, 2016 in what appears to be an assassination attempt, a close family source confirms.
The attack on Dokpesi, by gunmen suspected to be assassins, who trailed him to a hospital in Abuja left his police detail dead, riddled in bullets.
The murdered policeman is identified as Sergeant Den Gaius of the FCT Police Command by Signal, an online newspaper.
According to a family source, who spoke with The Trent, the suspected assassins were about four in number and drove in a Honda Accord car. The bandits accosted Dokpesi’s car in front of Child Care and Awareness Clinic at No 7, Fez Street, Off Kumasi Crescent Wuse 2 Abuja at 2.30 am on Saturday, June 4, 2016.
Dokpesi’s wife had just left the vehicle and gone inside the hospital when the attackers moved in and released a hail of bullets into the SUV owned by the high chief and chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The windows of the vehicle were tinted.
“The managing director of Africa Independent Television, Dr. (Mrs.) Oluwatosin Dokpesi who had arrived from Lagos complained of serious stomach cramps and was rushed to the Child Care and Awareness hospital in Wuse 2. She was accompanied by her cousin Ms. Abolore Sode and an aide, Ms Aisha Adamu,” a staff member of AIT told our reporter.
“They were escorted by the deceased sergeant. They were trailed by the Honda Accord and as soon as Mrs Dokpesi alighted from the car and entered the hospital, the assailants attacked them. They were asking the driver and sergeant about Mrs Dokpesi’s whereabouts.
“They collected the handset of the driver and shot the sergeant thrice and made away with the AK47 of the sergeant. They did not go with the Prado vehicle No APP 577DK nor did they collect any items.
“The driver said that the assailants said in Hausa, ‘He is not there. Bastard! We will still get him”.
“They shot thrice at the sergeant and sped off. He died on the spot,” the staff reports on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The Nigerian police is yet to comment on this incident. Below are photos of the crime scene, obtained from a family source.
