Rotimi Amaechi, Nigeria’s Minister of Transport, has denied claims by
members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) that they beat him up
in Madrid, Spain yesterday Friday, December 6th.
Amaechi took to his Twitter handle on Friday to disclose that he was
attacked by members of the secessionist group while attending a UN
conference on climate change.
The group’s spokesperson, Emma Powerful, in a statement released,
claimed they beat up Amaechi on the orders of their leader, Nnamdi Kani.
However in a statement released on Saturday December 7th, Amaechi
said the IPOB spokesman lied, explaining that he resisted and defeated
his attackers.
“We read with utter disgust and disdain the sickening propagandist
lies credited to one Emma Powerful, who claims to be the Spokesman of
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), that IPOB members in Madrid, Spain
“beat” (physically assaulted) the Minister of Transportation Rt. Hon.
Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. That is not true.“We must clarify that in the incident of the attack yesterday on the
Minister in Madrid, where Amaechi was part of the official Nigerian
government delegation to the United Nations (UN) climate change
conference (COP25), IPOB members did not “beat”, physically assault or
cause any bodily harm to the honourable Minister.“As they charged towards and at the minister during the attack, it
was apparent that their plan was to “beat” (quoting Emma Powerful) him,
hurt him, cause bodily harm or even do worse! But their violent evil
plot failed woefully due to the dexterity of Amaechi to resist them,
protect and defend himself, and the prompt intervention of the Spanish
police who repelled the motley crowd of misguided attackers. Even the
video circulated online by the attackers confirmed this much. Everyone
could clearly hear one of them shouting, ‘we didn’t get him…’ expressing
his frustrations of their inability to get and “beat” the Minister.We must commend the Spanish police in Madrid for their timely
intervention to protect Amaechi and their investigation of the attack
and attempt on the life of the honourable minister in Spanish territory.The honourable minister of Transportation is immensely grateful to
all for the outpour of love, support and prayers. He acknowledges God’s
hand in the foiling of the attack and reassures all and sundry that he’s
well, unhurt and okay; and will continue to dedicate himself in service
to God, Nigeria and humanity.” the statement read
Recall that in August this year, former deputy Senate President, Ike
Ekweremadu, was also attacked by IPOB members in Nuremberg, Germany.