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Four armed men, suspected to be hired assassins, invaded the Abuja residence of a senator from Kwara State, Gbemisola Saraki, daughter of Olusola Saraki, the Second Republic senate leader, in the early hours of yesterday, after overpowering her security aides.

The men undertook a meticulous search of the entire building, looking for Ms Saraki, but had to abandon their mission when they couldn’t locate the senator who had travelled out of Abuja days earlier, after the Senate announced its recess.

The men, who made enough racket to wake up all the senator’s aides and other residents living in the building, had arrived around 1am yesterday and proceeded to search the rooms, demanding to see Mrs Saraki.

“They came around with sophisticated weapons,” a family member said. “Ms. Saraki was however not at home when the suspected assassins forced their way into her house. They took her security aides and other members of her family hostage, demanding her whereabouts.” According to eyewitness account, the thugs were speaking in Yoruba, Ms Saraki’s language, claiming that they were sent from Ilorin, her home state, to kill the senator.

Emmanuel Ojukwu, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Police, said in a telephone that the police is treating the crime as a “burglary and theft attempt.” He also said that his men have not discovered any new information on the incident.

Family sources however said the armed men ransacked Ms Saraki’s house and locked her family inside a room after they could not find her.

A member of the family said the raid lasted for almost one hour and the police only arrived the scene hours after the men had left.

The senate leadership condemned the attack and asked the police to commence immediate investigation. “We received with shock news of the attempt on the life of Senator Gbemisola Saraki,” Ayogu Eze, the senate spokesperson said. “We condemn the violation of the sanctity of Ms. Saraki’s household and the abuse of the constitutional rights of her relations and domestic staff. We call on the Inspector General of Police and other security agencies to step into this matter and fish out the master-minds and the culprits in this heinous act.”

Ms Saraki could not be reached for her comments hours after the incident. However, on her Facebook page, she posted the message that, “The protection of Allah shall be banner over the lives of souls whose paths are always shining light on others.”