State House attacker still hospitalised, being questioned – Benn

It has been almost three weeks since an unprecedented attack on State House and the prime suspect, a Nigerian national, remains hospitalised at the Georgetown Public Hospital, as investigators continue to question him in relation to the incident.
After days went by with no updates from the Guyana Police Force regarding the investigation, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn was on Wednesday, who quizzed by Guyana Times regarding the probe into the December 15, 2022 attack on State House.

“I know that the assailant and the Police rank who was severely injured, they’re both still in hospital and there have been attempts at questioning…I think those are still underway as they recover and remember and when we get that information, along with the… investigation, we’ll get better updates,” Benn told reporters on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday.
The attacker, 25-year-old Nigerian Bethel Ikena Chinezie was shot thrice by presidential guards after he attempted to infiltrate State House in an apparent attempt to assassinate President Dr Irfaan Ali.
He had to undergo surgery.
Also, in relation to a recent allegation made by Chinezie’s wife in another section of the media that she was being prevented from seeing her husband by the Police, the Minister said that this should not be so.
“I don’t think as of now, there is really any reason why she couldn’t visit…she would have to, more or less, meet him in the presence of a police rank,” the Minister explained.
In the article in which the suspect’s wife allegedly made the allegations, the woman was reportedly demanding answers from the authorities about the suspect’s health.
On the day of the attack, Chinezie approached the security detail at a southern guard hut in the compound of State House, located near Carmichael Street, with a demand to see the President.
He was cautioned about having to be processed before entering the compound, but he resisted being processed, whipped out a knife from a pouch he was carrying and stabbed Teon Perreira, one of the guards, five times about his body and to his neck. After injuring Perreira, Chinezie relieved a female guard of her firearm and retreated from the guard hut.
It was then that shots rang out in the usually quiet neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, the injured presidential guard was promoted to the rank of Corporal. He received his new stripe from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Ali, from his hospital bed. (G9)