Nigerian militants used dynamite to blow up the home of vice-president-elect Goodluck Jonathan in southern Bayelsa State early on Wednesday, killing two police officers, police said.
Jonathan was not in his village of Otu-Eke at the time of the attack on his country home, federal police spokesperson Haz Iwendi said.
”The attack happened at about 2am. The militants came in a speedboat through the river behind the house and used dynamite to blow it up. The place is completely razed,” Iwendi said.
”We lost two officers in the incident — an inspector and a corporal. The parents of the governor had to be spirited to safety,” he said.
Iwendi said a nearby police station was also raided by the militants, but that no arrests had been made.
Jonathan, the governor of southern Bayelsa State, was elected vice-president to incoming president Umaru Yar’Adua in the country’s widely disputed elections last month.
Tensions have risen since the vote, the first civilian transition to another civilian government in the West African country of 140-million people, which has a history of electoral violence.
Secretary to Bayelsa government Godknows Igali confirmed the incident, but refused to give details.
”There was an incident during the night at the governor’s country home. We have sent people to investigate,” said.
On April 20, at the eve of the presidential poll, heavy explosions rocked state capital Yenagoa as militants attempted to disrupt the vote.
Gunfire broke out at Creek Hotel, close to the Government House, when soldiers clashed with unknown assailants attempting to enter the town where Jonathan was staying.
Jonathan is a member of Nigeria’s ruling party People’s Democratic Party, which a won landslide victory in the elections, widely described as flawed by both local and international observers, opposition parties, the European Union and United States.
The new government is expected to take over from outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo on May 29 at the end of his two terms of eight years. — AFP
