The sobriquet of Akwa Ibom is “The Land of
Promise.” Indeed, Akwa Ibom is the short form
of Akwa Abasi Ibom, which means “God’s own
state.” But recent political happenings have
shown that the 27-year-old state is under the
threat of ungodly elements.
The visit of suspected assassins to the Uyo office
of the immediate past board Chairman, Akwa
Ibom Property and Investment Company
Limited, Mr. Soni Udom, on Monday, May 5,
2014, is a pointer to this supposition.
This incident, which is the latest in a series, in
recent times, is a sad reminder
to residents of the state that the era of politics of
bloodshed appears to be back in the state.
Prior to the 2011 elections, the unresolved
murders of individuals who declared interest in
vying for political offices generated public
disgust and fear.
Quoting an annual report by the Nigeria Police
Force, a Sunday PUNCH report of November 21,
2010 (page 3) said there were 74,064 murders
and similar cases in Nigeria within two years.
A state-by-state analysis of this record ranks
Akwa Ibom State with a population of 3.9m
(2006 estimate) as being the highest with
preponderance of such crimes. Some analysts
argue that Akwa Ibom’s status as one of the
richest states in the federation (it receives about
N20bn monthly) could explain some of the
desperate measures embarked upon by political
gladiators in the quest for power. The police
report said in 2009 alone, Akwa Ibom recorded
177 murders (most of which are said to be
politically motivated), 62 attempted murders,
one manslaughter, eight suicides, 21 attempted
suicides, 320 assaults, 18 child stealing, 93 rape
cases and indecent assaults, 29 kidnappings,
among others. The 2011 figures marked a
remarkable increase when compared to 2007.
Udom is lucky to be alive to tell his story. He told
newsmen that his assailants gained entry into his
office under the guise that they were looking for
a place to let. He said from the information he
got from members of his staff, the gunmen were
armed. According to him, he was outside the
state when he received a call at 2:34pm that some
gunmen had raided his office in Uyo. He said, “I
was highly disturbed about the mission of the
gunmen because since I’ve been using this office
in the last seven years there has never been a
single incident of criminal operation in broad
daylight around this neighbourhood. According
to eyewitnesses, the gunmen, five in number,
came into the premises and held the security man
and staff including students on Industrial
Training and a National Youth Service Corps
member hostage at gunpoint. They seized their
mobile phones and started ransacking the office
room-to-room, breaking into toilets, looking for
me. The gunmen were well armed as some of
them had two pistols strapped to their waists.
When some of them started seizing phones from
my staff, one of the gunmen shouted, ‘Is that
what we came for?’ In anger, he shot at the hand
of the one collecting phones from my workers,
cutting off a finger in the process. But in spite of
the serious injury, the suspected assassin that
was shot still went into all the other rooms,
broke the toilets to look for me.”
A former Deputy Speaker, Akwa Ibom State
House of Assembly, Uwem Udoma, claimed that
a top politician within the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party had threatened to deal with
Udom if he continued to oppose the senatorial
ambition of a certain candidate. Leading
contenders for the senatorial position in the area
are the incumbent senator representing Akwa
Ibom North-West in the National Assembly,
Aloysius Etok and the outgoing state governor,
Mr. Godswill Akpabio.
Udoma said, “You cannot give what you do not
have. We cannot concede that position to him. If
he deserves compensation let Akwa Ibom State
compensate him because he worked for them.
“If there is no zoning in Ikot Ekpene senatorial
district and if we do not welcome zoning in Ikot
Ekpene, we will not welcome it in the state.”
Udoma, like Udom, has been vocal in his
opposition to what he called the zoning of the
seat to an individual. He said, “We are opposing
senate position being zoned to a particular
individual. One person was killed in Abak, my
own local government area a few days ago. I went
and saw the blood and today again, we are having
an attempt on another life of a great son of Abak
5. I cannot keep quiet. We know where the attack
is coming from and we urge the state government
to do something about the security of lives and
property of all citizens of this state. If the state
government cannot defend us, we are going to
take defence into our hands to save our lives. We
will defend our children. We cannot take this
anymore.” He recalled that there were several
politically motivated murders in 2010 in the run
up to the 2011 elections. He also observed that
the trend seized after the current administration
came to power.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Akwa Ibom
State Command, Mr. Etim Dickson, confirmed
the incident. He, however, said information
available to the police indicate that the incident
was not an assassination attempt but a case of
armed robbery.
Dickson said, “Based on the report we received,
the truth is that the incident was not an
assassination attempt. The armed robbers raided
the building, stole phones, money, other
property, and started to shoot one another.”
With the assassination of a PDP chieftain, Albert
Ukpanah, on March 13, 2014 in Abak, it became
clear that the state may be on the verge of
another round of murderous orgy, which
characterised the state between 2010 and 2011.
An anonymous source told our correspondent
that Ukpanah was assassinated based on his
unyielding position towards some politicians in
his federal and state constituencies who desired
second or fresh terms in various political offices.
Ukpanah had served for nine years as state
officer in the PDP representing Oruk Anam/
Ukanafun in the federal constituency.
It was learnt that some persons including second
term seekers had approached the deceased for
support which he turned down. Some politicians
were said to be jittery owing to the belief that
Ukpanah had the clout to thwart their ambitions.
The deceased’s political associate, who refused to
be named, stated that sometime in December last
year, Ukpanah attended a meeting at Hilltop
Mansion (Government House) as part of
Akpabio’s effort to reconcile with aggrieved
former state officers of the party.
He revealed that Ukpanah was very vocal at the
meeting and he spoke his mind on a number of
issues.
It was learnt that he voiced his opposition to
certain permutations which appeared to be
tailor-made towards giving an individual undue
advantage over other qualified contestants in the
2015 governorship election.
The deceased was said to have told the powers
that be that he was yet to decide on who to
support but that he gave the assurance that he
was going to support an aspirant from Eket
Senatorial District.
On March 13, 2014, the deceased returned home
after attending the Ikono/Ini town hall meeting
and constituency briefing ceremony by 8pm
when he received a call from visitors who parked
their vehicle outside his residence. When
Ukpanah asked them why they did not drive the
car into the compound, they replied that the
driver was inexperienced and may damage the
car while trying to enter the compound. But
before Ukpanah’s son, Odudu, who was asked to
entertain the visitors could return with drinks,
his father had been killed by his supposed
visitors who fled the scene after they were sure
he was dead.
Before Ukpanah’s death, Oyong Asuquo was
allegedly murdered on April 13, 2012 for voicing
his opposition against an attempt to impose an
individual on the party. Two prominent people,
who were murdered before the 2011 general
elections included a former South-South
Secretary of PDP, Chief Paul Inyang. He was said
to have been murdered right inside a church
during a service. Leading political parties in the
state traded allegations over the murder. Based
on a report by officials of the state government,
an opposition figure, Senator John Udoedehe,
was arrested as a suspect. He was taken to Abuja
and detained before he was released.
Also, the paramount ruler of Nsit Ubium and
Oku Ibom III, Edidem Robert James Obot, from
Ikot Ekpene Udo in Nsit Ubium LGA, was said to
have been assassinated on January 30, 2011, in
his palace.
The state Commissioner for Information, Mr.
Aniekan Umana, neither picked his calls nor
responded to a text message sent to him by our
correspondent, who sought to get the
government’s reaction to the issues.
However, state Chairman of the PDP, Mr. Paul
Ekpo, said, “My role is to function as party
chairman and not on extraneous issues which are
better handled by the police.”
It is the prayer of all citizens of the state that
politicians would play by the rules and that
security agencies would rise to the occasion as
the 2015 elections draw near.
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