The embattled senator, Dino Melaye, has said he has uncovered an alleged plan by Nigeria Police and the Kogi State Government to assassinate him using lethal injection while travelling to Kogi State.
He said that is why they insist on prosecuting him in Kogi State, instead of Abuja, for a crime he allegedly committed.
The police have said the allegation is baseless.
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Mr Melaye stated this in an interview with BBC Hausa on Monday evening.
“I have supporters and I already know their plan.
“Jimoh Moshood, Nigerian Police spokesperson, and Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state have colluded against me,” he said.
Mr Melaye added that “I can’t go to Lokoja to defend myself in a court because I doubt I can get to Kogi state alive. This is because they want to use poisonous lethal injection to kill me.”
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He said the police accused him of sponsoring thugs with guns at Abuja Airport road.
“Why can’t they take me to court in Abuja? Since I was in the lower chamber and now a senator, I never mingled with political thugs. The police are lying because they said, the incident happened in December but failed to say the day and time” he said.
“I can’t go to Lokoja” he added, saying that it would be too dangerous for him because he survived two assassination attempts at Lokoja.
“I reported the case to the police. I told them the people I suspected, my local government chairman inclusive. The police raided the council chairman’s house, they found guns, the case is now before a court of law. Unfortunately, the police later turned against me and said the information I gave them was inaccurate.”
Mr Melaye also denied fleeing Nigeria, saying while he was in Nigeria, nobody notified him with a court summon.
“I just read from Moshood Jimoh press conference that I was supposed to be in court on the 20th of this month. By then I was in Ghana alongside 10 other senators. We attended the international conference on local context.
“Even the publicised issue that I would be declared wanted on the 28th of this month, nobody notified me, either in my office or at home, I am not on the run I am innocent.
“They want to kill me because of the good things I have been doing to the Nigerian masses. We laboured hard to bring this administration to the helm with a sole purpose of serving the poor, to wipe-out their hardship and bring justice. Unfortunately, the reverse is the case.”
When contacted, Jimoh Moshood, Nigerian Police spokesperson, said Mr Melaye has been evading (the police) and that the police are not doctors, hence, they cannot inject him.
“He said he is having issues in Kogi state and he has to explain whatever he has to say (in Kogi).
“Let him appear in court on the 28th of this month instead of making false accusations, which is also a criminal offence,” he said.
Apart from being accused of arming suspected criminals, Mr Melaye also faces a recall from the Senate.
The electoral commission, INEC, has announced that it will proceed with the recall, after getting clearance from the Court of Appeal.
Thousands of Mr Melaye’s constituents want him recalled, an act the senator has blamed on the Kogi governor.
