Martin Amaewhule, the speaker, Rivers House of Assembly, says he is thankful to God for surviving kidnap, assassination attempt in the past years.
Mr Amaewhule made this known during his 52nd birthday thanksgiving service at the All Saints Anglican Church, Eliozu, Obio/Apkor Local Government Area, Rivers, on Sunday.
“I am not just marking another birthday but acknowledging that many people had planned to take my life in the last one year, but God didn’t allow them.’’
Recounting how he survived a harrowing experience in 2008, he said that he narrowly escaped death during the incident.
Mr Amaewhule said some unidentified gunmen abducted him at his residence as he arrived after a Sunday church service.
“Some of you were here in 2008 when a preacher was preaching right here, during a Sunday service. On that faithful day, I didn’t know the people who came to kidnap me were also in the service.
“After service, they tactically followed me to my residence, tied up my security guard and abducted me and took me to a forest where they held me hostage for five days.
“They placed thorns under my feet and inflicted several injuries on my head and body in the process of moving me from one hideout to another within the forest.
“They fed me with biscuits throughout the period even as I almost bled to death,” he said.
The speaker thanked God for his numerous blessings, guidance, and preservation.
“When God does things for you, it is important to appreciate him for more,” he said.
Mr Amaewhule, a political ally of Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister, has been one of the principal actors in the protracted political battle between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Mr Wike. This battle led to President Bola Tinubu declaring a six-month emergency rule in the oil-rich Rivers.
Mr Tinubu had suspended Governor Fubara, his deputy, and the state lawmakers during the emergency rule, which the president recently lifted.
The governor, Mr Amaewhule, and other elected officials in the state have returned to office.