By Ibrahim Salaudeen, Lagos
Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has narrated how the Director of Department of State Service(DSS) in Kano State saved him from being harmed or killed in the ancient commercial city of Kano.
Amaechi narrated the threat to his life and the attendant saviour that surfaced to his rescue, said the incident occurred after he and some others installed the Emir of Kano State, though he remains silent on the identity of the monarch and year the event happened.
However, many believe the ex – transport minister was referring to his ordeal which he experienced during the administration of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, especially after he and a group of governors left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to co – birth the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the build – up to the 2015 general elections.
“A good soldier warned me: ‘Leave before nightfall. I can’t account for your life.’ Imagine that — as a sitting governor.
“Another time in Kano, security agents blocked the runway with a machine gun. We had to switch off our phones and sneak out to Zaria by road. God drove us from Kaduna to Abuja because I was too tired to stay awake,” he said.
The ex – governor of Rivers State revealed that Goje, Baraje and Professor Gambari were also in the state at the time and later joined him in his car as he drove quickly and stealthily away to safety from the city to Kaduna and then to Abuja.
He spoke as a guest speaker during the 9th edition of Akinjide Adeosun Foundation, AAF, Annual Leadership Discourse organised in Lagos.
Amaechi said after installing the Emir, the Director of the Department of State Services, DSS, in Kano State warned him to leave the state because he can’t guarantee his safety.
The former governor said while he attempted to depart the state via air, there was an order that prevented airline operators from selling tickets to him.
He said, “When we went to install the Emir of Kano. When we had succeeded, but it had not been announced, we told the governor of Kano State that we were leaving.
“I said, ‘okay.’ So, we went to the airport. I boarded my plane. I had chartered the plane, an Indian pilot, by the way. We took off. We were going to Abuja, but the weather was bad and I am always afraid of weather.
“So, we came back. Instead of landing in Kaduna, I said we couldn’t land in Kaduna because the governor of Kaduna was a member of the PDP and he was hostile. So, I said Let’s go back to Kano. We got to Kano where they didn’t let us land for 20 minutes. However, we eventually landed. When the weather improved, they called us to inform us that the weather had improved. We boarded the plane and were about to leave Kano when they told us we could not leave Kano. I asked why
“They said it was an order from above. So, I called the former governor of Kano State, Kwankwaso, and informed him that there was an order from above that I shouldn’t leave Kano. He said: ‘come to the Government House’. And luckily for us, Aero Contractors landed. When Aero Contractors landed, we said: ‘Thank God, thank God.’ I told my staff: ‘ go and buy Aero Contractors tickets; wherever they were going, let us go’.
“Having gone to purchase Aero Contractors tickets, they returned to me to say: ‘Sir, they said we cannot buy Aero Contractors tickets.’ I asked: ‘Why? I thought they said only commercial aircraft could go. Private jets couldn’t go.’ However, they said: ‘No, you can’t go.’ So I said: ‘Then we will go to Government House.’ As I was talking, the director of SSS walked in and saluted me. He was the director of SSS in Rivers State before he was transferred to Kano. He said: ‘Oga, you must leave Kano now.
“Even if it means sleeping in Bichi.’ At the time, I didn’t know where Bichi was. I said: ‘why?’ He said: ‘I can’t account for your life.’ I told him: ‘But the governor has told me to come to the Government House.’ He said: ‘Don’t you go near there.’
“So, I requested for security, which he gave me. We bought fuel. He said: ‘Switch off your phones.’ We switched off our phones. By the time I left Kano, the people with me – Goje, who was about to cry, had slept off. Baraje and Professor Gambari had slept, and I was the only person who drove.
“By the time I got to Zaria, I needed to ease myself. I came down, eased myself. From Kaduna, God drove us because I was sleeping. In fact, I came down in Kaduna where I bought six cans of Red Bull. It didn’t work. So God drove us from Kaduna to Abuja.”
