Senator Dino Melaye(Kogi West), yesterday, claimed that last Saturday’s invasion of his home by the Police was one of Kogi State’s governor, Yahaya Bello’s plans to stop him from campaigning for his re-election.

However, the state government told Senator Melaye to leave Governor Bello out of his problems, saying he has no hands in Melaye’s ordeals with the Police.

Speaking with newsmen yesterday, Dino alleged that the governor had instructed security agents in the state to arrest him whenever he visited the state.

He alleged that “the governor want me out of circulation. He doesn’t want me around to campaign for my re-election. Information reaching me is that he wants me to be arrested, arraigned before a Kangaroo court and then locked up so I wouldn’t be able to campaign.

“I have written the President, United Nations, UK embassy, CJN, AU, ECOWAS, German and Canadian embassies. This is the fourth assassination attempt on my life.

“I was in Lokoja on the fateful Thursday and drove past the Government House after a one-hour meeting with Senator Ogbeha at his resident in GRA. My convoy and that of the governor met and at the end of the day they did not arrest me in Lokoja.

“I was in Koton-Karfe, where I had a meeting in the residence of Musa Ahmodu former SSG. I was also in Gegu for another meeting, only for my house to be invaded at 1a.m. Thank God that I had an Intel that they were coming, if not they were to kill me.

“I have been moving around as a free Nigerian and my office is known to people. So if they want to arrest me over something that happened in July 19, and all these while they have not taken any proactive step, only to barge into my residence at 1a.m. with 30 SARS operatives, some of whom were not in uniform.”

He’s sinking—Govt

However, the state government has urged the Senator to face his problems with the Police and stop “hanging them on innocent people.”

Addressing journalists in Lokoja over the allegations by the Dino, Director General of Media and Publicity to the Governor, Kingsley Fanwo, dismissed them as “untrue, illogical and a desperate attempt by the sinking Senator to whip up sentiments.”

According to Fanwo, “we have decided to allow Dino Melaye sink alone. We are not prepared to sink with him. He cannot lean on the state government to re-awaken his dead political career.

“The cases between the Police and Dino Melaye are well documented. None of them has anything to do with either the state government or the governor. Nigerians are used to such spurious allegations and blackmail for political gains.

“This is a Senator who said he stayed on a tree for 11 hours. This is a Senator who framed his own constituents on an assassination charge, which was later thrown out by a court of competent jurisdiction.

“As a government, we are preoccupied by our desire to make the state one of the best in Nigeria.”