Armed men suspected to be robbers reportedly invaded the residences of two senior aides to President Muhammadu Buhari inside the precinct of the Presidential Villa,.
“Their houses were robbed and the robbers packed money and other valuable assets from both houses,” said a presidential aide.
It was not immediately clear whether or not valuable documents of state interest were carted away by the intruders, but reports say the residences were thoroughly ransacked.
“The robbers took away as much as possible from both places,” a security officer that confirmed the incident said. “What is more unfortunate is that no one has been arrested.”
Officials also said Prof Gambari was given an official residence at the Defence House, but has not been living there, preferring instead to live inside Aso Rock and be close to the president.
But the Chief of Staff, through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu said that there was nothing to worry about.
The presidential aide was however silent on whether any arrest was made given the level of tight security network around the residence.
Shehu in a text message last night said: “The Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari has confirmed that there ‘was a foolish attempt’ to burgle his residence at 3:00am this morning but it turned out to be unsuccessful.
“Professor Gambari, whose house is on a street next to the Villa has assured that there is nothing to worry about from the incident.”
Recall that an online newspaper, The Gazette, had exclusively reported that armed men suspected to be robbers had raided Gambari’s residence.
The report claimed that the robbers also raided the residence of the CoS’ Admin Officer.
It said, “Armed men suspected to be robbers invaded the residences of two senior aides to President Muhammadu Buhari inside the precinct of the Presidential Villa, administration officials and security sources have told Peoples Gazette, raising fears that the rising insecurity across the country was drawing closer to the elite than previously estimated.
“The incident on May 9 (yesterday) prompted Ibrahim Gambari and Abubakar Maikano, the chief of staff and admin officer, respectively, to abandon their residences, sources said.
Nigeria’s presidential palace just east of the city centre has long been seen as highly fortified and far beyond the reach of burglars, bandits and other criminals currently holding the vast swathes of the country to ransom.
