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Your Excellency Sir,
IMMINENT THREAT TO VIOLENCE-FREE AND
CREDIBLE ELECTIONS BY THE POLITICALLY
MOTIVATED ARREST AND DETENTION OF
SENATOR JAMES JOHN AKPANUDOEDEHE BY
GOVERNOR GODSWILL AKPABIO OF AKWA-IBOM
STATE: AN APPEAL FOR INTERVENTION
We are a socio-political pressure group
with widespread membership that cuts
across the best of Akwa Ibom community
in Nigeria. Our political objective is
good governance, credible elections and
voters’ education in Akwa Ibom State.
We are constrained by circumstances
enumerated hereunder to bring to your
notice the actions and conduct of
Governor Godswill Akpabio which are
capable of heating up the polity,
threatening your avowed commitment to
free, fair and credible elections and
generally portends a very ominous future
for the Akwa Ibom State in particular
and Nigeria as a whole, if not timely
checked.
We understand that distinguished Senator
James J. Akpanudoedehe was arrested and
detained on Thursday 24th June, 2010 by
the Nigeria Police Force, Force Criminal
Investigation Department, Abuja on the
strength of a petition by Governor
Godswill Akpabio-led administration
alleging that the distinguished Senator
sent the assassins that snuffed the life
out of late Mr. Paul Inyang (a former
PDP national officer) during church
service on Sunday 20th June 2010 in
Ibesikpo-Asutan Local Government Area in
Akwa Ibom State.
It is our firm view that this is nothing
but a politically motivated charade
orchestrated by Governor Godswill
Akpabio in one of his numerous acts of
political desperation intent upon
scuttling all opposition to his
underserved bid for a second term in
office at all cost.
It is no longer news that the security
situation in Akwa Ibom State has
hopelessly deteriorated with the
Godswill Akpabio-led administration
watching helplessly in apparent
admission of lack of capacity to handle
or outright conspiratorial alliance
intent upon deploying the instrument of
fear and intimidation to silence all
opponents, scare them out of town and
perpetuate himself in office while
bestriding the political landscape of
the State as a colossus reminiscent of
the Roman Emperor of medieval history.
A critical analysis of the chronology of
events culminating in the arrest and
detention of distinguished Senator
Akpanuodedehe will reveal the
shallowness and hollowness of the grand
plot by Governor Godswill Akpabio to use
State-sponsored murder to fight
political opponents towards his second
term bid.
1. THE EKET RALLY IN SUPPORT OF SENATOR
AKPANUDOEDEHE: On Saturday 19th June
2010, Senator Akpanudoedehe held a
meeting with his teeming supporters in
Eket, Akwa-Ibom State. This meeting was
very successful and incident-free. The
Nigeria Police Force via the Divisional
Police Officer, Eket Division, provided
security for this event and filed an
incident-free report thereafter. So also
did State Security Service (SSS) as well
as the National Orientation Agency (NOA)
among other stakeholders. Surprisingly,
Governor Akpabio’s propaganda machinery
issued a highly publicised Press
Statement to the effect that the meeting
was disrupted by the Eket people who
caused chaos at the venue. This ran
counter to the reports by security
stakeholders as highlighted above.
Consequently, our amber signal started
blinking as to what Governor Akpabio was
up to with his own concocted version of
the story. This evil plot began to
unfold only 24hours later. However, it
is on
record that the late Mr. Paul Inyang
was not at the Eket meeting as he was
neck-deep in the preparation for the
marriage ceremony of the daughter of his
bosom friend and close political
associate, Honourable Akpaudo; the
traditional marriage of which he chaired
the previous day.
The foregoing background punctures the
theory of Governor Akpabio and his
co-conspirators that the late Paul
Inyang attended the Eket rally of
Senator Akpanudoedehe and caused the
widely reported phantom disruption and
it is for that reason that Senator
Akpanudoedehe sent hired assassins after
him.
2. GOVERNOR AKPABIO’S HANDLING OF THE
MATTER: Another interesting dimension is
the way and manner that Godswill Akpabio
administration has handled this matter.
The SAME DAY the incident occurred, the
Akwa Ibom State Government, issued a
statement signed by no less an officer
than the Secretary to the State
Government, Mr. Umana Okon Umana,
passing instant judgement on one Mr.
Monday Ben a.k.a Monday Akpautong and
ordered his house to be pulled down.
Thereafter, he placed the responsibility
for this incident on the doorstep of
“Desperate Opposition Politicians” whose
only representation in the political
landscape of Akwa Ibom State is Senator
Akpanudoedehe, others having been scared
away by kidnapping and assassination
threats. The SAME EVENING, the press
release enjoyed wide publication in all
major electronic and print media. All
these happened before the Nigeria Police
could even initiate investigation into
the incident. Consequently, Governor
Akpabio constituted himself into both
the accuser and the judge
simultaneously. He did this within the
speed of light that was hitherto unknown
in the history of his administration. If
he had attempted or tried to develop
Akwa Ibom State at this same speed, then
China and Singapore would have been
behind us in terms of development.
3. PREVIOUS SIMILAR INCIDENTS: There
have been over 150 recorded cases of
kidnapping, some occasioning death,
since this administration but on none of
these previous occasions did the
government act in the manner highlighted
above. On 21st June 2010, Governor
Akpabio paid a condolence visit to the
family of the deceased and gave the sum
of 5 million naira to each of his
children and 10 million naira each to
his three wives. This government welfare
package was done in a highly advertised
manner. While we do not have anything
against visit to bereaved families as
this is customary, we however hasten to
ask how many such other affected
families he has visited in this manner
in the previous 149 similar cases
mentioned earlier. Recently, one
Barrister Udonwa was killed in similar
manner because he has declared his
intention to contest the Chairmanship of
PDP in the State, a position occupied by
Governor Akpabio’s nominee, Mr. Uwem
Etuk who is from the same
area as the late Mr. Paul Inyang. Did
Governor Akpabio visit his family and
gave money? Also, another Dr. Ekanem, a
former Akwa Ibom State Liaison Officer
in Abuja was attacked and a police man
was killed although he escaped by the
whiskers. He is from the same area as
the late Paul Inyang. Did Governor
Akpabio visit the family with monetary
gifts? What is the rationale behind the
open advertisement of monetary gifts to
bereaved families? Is it to invite armed
robbers to attack them after the burial
or are we now playing politics with the
dead? We grew up to hear that what is
good for the goose is good for the
gander. If so, why have other bereaved
families not attracted his attention?
What did Governor Akpabio do for the
late Mr. Paul Inyang during his
lifetime? He should let us know his
contributions in his political and
business life before now. Every man will
die one day so we should tread with
caution. In this case, the motive is
clear. Governor
Akpabio wants to be seen as the only
good man who feels for the bereaved
family in order to curry their sympathy
and support in the execution of his evil
agenda
4. LOPSIDED INVESTIGATION BY NIGERIA
POLICE FORCE: The Nigeria Police Force
and other security agencies are critical
stakeholders in the reform agenda of the
present federal administration part of
which includes but not limited to free,
fair and credible elections in 2011. In
this wise, they are expected, just like
the wife of Caesar, to be above board.
This entails objectivity, neutrality and
professionalism in the execution of
their constitutional functions.
Regrettably, the Police have failed
abysmally to exhibit these in the way
and manner they have handled this
investigation so far.
On Wednesday 23rd June 2010, the
Inspector General of Police, Mr.
Ogbonnaya Onovo (hereinafter referred to
as the IGP) paid an operational visit to
the scene of the crime in Akwa Ibom. He
unilaterally decided to convert that
opportunity to a working visit to
Governor Akpabio in Government House Uyo.
This was attended by well publicised
hobnobbing, revelry, exchange of gifts
on camera, copious photo opportunities
and general fraternity which is still
enjoying currency in the media till
date. Immediately he returned to Abuja
on Thursday 24th June 2010, he ordered
the arrest and detention of Senator
Akpanudoedehe. What conclusion does the
IGP expect the discerning members of the
public to draw? Is it that of an
objective Investigator or a biased one?
One would have expected him to maintain
dignified neutrality throughout this
investigation and keep a safe distance
from the Governor and Government of
Godswill Akpabio who is the Complainant
in this case. Now,
where lies the confidence in the
investigation when the lead Investigator
is openly fraternising with the
Complainant even before commencement of
investigation?
This becomes even more worrisome when
viewed against the backdrop of the fact
that long before now, Senator
Akpanudoedehe has written severally to
the IGP vocally complaining about the
several plots by Governor Akpabio and
his administration to frame him up as a
ploy to take him out of the electoral
space in the build up to the forthcoming
2011 elections the same way he did to
other prominent Akwa Ibom sons and
daughters like Ambassador Sam Edem,
Engineer Udonwa (whose mother was
recently kidnapped and now reportedly
killed as confirmed by Police
Commissioner Rugbere - see The Nation
newspaper of June 30, 2010, page 5) and
Mrs. Maria Ikpe, just to mention a few.
The IGP did nothing about the numerous
alarms raised by Senator Akpaudoedehe in
this regard. Copies of some of these
previous publications are attached
hereto for your information and
necessary action. In this regard, we
have decided to overlook the ethnic
affinity between Godswill Akpabio
whose wife is said to hail from the
same area in Enugu State as IGP Onovo.
Furthermore, we hasten to ask the IGP
how many of such similar condolence
visits he has paid to other State
Governors in respect of other cases
within their domain. For example, when
Chief Dipo Dina, a notable national
figure was killed in Ogun State, did IGP
visit the family and Governor Gbenga
Daniel with so much advertised fanfare?
Also did the IGP visit the Saraki family
house in Kwara State over the failed
attempt on the life of Senator Gbemisola
Saraki right under IGP’s nose in Abuja?
Did he visit the family of Gen Edet
Akpan who was kidnapped from a church in
Akwa Ibom State? What then is so special
about Inyang’s case that warrants a
tag-team of IGP and Governor Akpabio? We
just hope and pray that this is not a
grand design to execute a political
agenda under the guise of criminal
investigation.
In addition, one Chief Superintendent of
Police, Mr. Victor Ochala, a Mobile
Police Squadron Commander at Asaba,
Delta State, an indigene of Kogi State,
has been missing at Ezzilo, near
Abakiliki, Ebonyi State in the line of
duty for the past three months, yet the
IGP has not deemed it fit and necessary
to pay a condolence visit to the family
in Kogi which is near to Abuja where he
is based. However, he preferred to fly
to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State to wine and dine
with a State Governor who is a
Complainant in a high profile allegation
of murder case against a Senator he took
into custody at the instance of that
Governor. Definitely, this cannot be a
classical example of global best
practice in criminal investigation.
Rather, this is crude and curious
politics executed through the
instrumentality of State apparatus.
One would have expected the IGP to
concentrate on how to arrest the three
other suspected assassins with the
assistance of the one the Police now
have in their custody. Also he should
focus on how to arrest the Monday
Akpautong, a prime suspect allegedly
identified at the scene of the crime and
reported to be at large but widely
believed to be in the protective custody
of Governor Godswill Akpabio.
Information at our disposal further
reveals that the suspect arrested
refused to volunteer a Statement to the
Officers of Special Anti Robbery Squad,
Uyo and insisted on making a phone call
to a particular number before doing so.
It was only after he made this phone
call that he wrote a Statement allegedly
linking Senator Akpanudoedehe to this
crime. We need to know the number and
the person that he called. We also need
to know the number used to make this
call. GSM technology available today in
Nigeria would readily reveal interaction
between these two
numbers on their call log. The IGP is
not interested in all these but he was
quick to take into custody a
distinguished Senator and former
Minister of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria who can be easily gotten at one
phone call without the need for a
politically motivated incarceration.
5. THE FALSE-WITNESS STRATEGY AND
GOVERNOR AKPABIO: This is not the first
time that Governor Akpabio would try the
strategy of paying witnesses to testify
evil just to undo political opponents.
This has failed before and will fail
again by the grace of God. The pending
case of the Ekpeyong brothers and Dr.
Chris Ekong is still fresh on our minds.
It is an open secret that Governor
Akpabio paid huge sums of money to a
relation of the deceased Ekpeyong
brothers to testify to the effect that
this same Senator Akpanudoedehe was the
mastermind of that murder. The Ekpenyong
brother’s relation was to be the star
prosecution witness in that case but at
the last minute, in open court; he
recanted and confessed to the antics of
Governor Akpabio. Thereafter, the State
Attorney-General declared him a hostile
witness and preferred fresh criminal
charges against him, which led to his
being remanded in prison custody
awaiting trial. This is in sharp
contradistinction
to the Mr. Nathaniel Uyoh case. Here
was an Annang man and close associate of
Governor Akpabio, a kidnapper and
assassin who was caught in the act and
charged to court because of the weight
of public opinion. The same State
Attorney-General and his team of lawyers
deliberately stayed away from court on
very many occasions thereby constraining
the court to strike out the charge for
want of diligent prosecution. Today Mr.
Nathaniel Uyoh is driving around the
streets of Akwa Ibom in a jeep given to
him by Governor Akpabio as a
compensation for a job well done.
6. AKWA-IBOM STATE POLICE COMMAND: The
Akwa Ibom State Police Command headed by
Commissioner Walter Rugbere, just like
his boss the IGP, has not done well in
this regard. The Commissioner appears to
have converted himself to an agent of
the Governor. It is on record that
violent crimes have been at its apogee
under this Commissioner who seems
completely bereft of ideas as to how to
contain the situation. He has completely
forgotten that there is no State Police
in Nigeria as the Nigeria Police Force
remains a Federal establishment. It is
an open secret that his predecessor, CP
Zukomor (now serving in Niger State)
could not understand Governor Akpabio’s
ways hence he requested to be
transferred out.
7. THE MAN – JAMES AKPANUDOEDEHE: We
would not have bothered ourselves if
Senator Akpanudoedehe had been known to
be a criminal because the law must take
its course. Contrariwise, the
distinguished Senator is a very decent
politician. He is the only Akwa Ibom
man alive who has been a Local
Government Chairman, Senator-elect,
Senator and a Minister of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria all packed into a
short space of time. Within this period,
he had cause to undergo security
clearance at several stages of his
political career. From his early days as
Uyo Local Government Chairman, to his
days as Senator-elect and then to
Senator and also Minister of State of
the Federal Capital Territory as well as
Chairman of the Governing Council of a
Federal Institution, none of the
security agencies has spotted any
criminal tendency such as he is being
presently accused of. Does it mean that
they do not know what they have been
doing all these years? We all know
that habits are not formed at old age.
So, why must Akpanudoedehe suddenly
become a criminal?
8. NOW TO THE MEAT OF THE MATTER: It is
axiomatic that every crime must have a
motive. So, we hasten to ask what could
probably be the motive behind this one.
Why will Senator Akpaudoedehe want to
kill Mr Paul Inyang? Did the late Mr.
Inyang intend to contest the
Governorship of Akwa-Ibom State as well?
The answer is No! So, what will it
profit Senator Akpanudodehe to go after
him? Clearly the motive is not there.
The Senator himself has been a victim of
political violence on several occasions.
Some people have tried to kidnap his
mother; they have ambushed his car and
shot his driver. His security details
were withdrawn at a time. All manner of
things have been done to clamp him down.
His sin is his ambition to contest the
governorship seat against Godswill
Akpabio who he served as the Boss of
Akpabio Campaign Organization prior to
2007.
In addition, it has been canvassed that
the resignation of Chief Vincent
Ogbulafor and the appointment of Dr.
Okwesilieze Nwodo has created a fresh
opportunity for a revisit of the
agreement to reconstitute the State
Executive of the PDP in Akwa Ibom State.
In this likely event, the late Mr. Paul
Inyang was being positioned to take over
from the current chairman Mr. Uwem Ita
Etuk as a possible new Chairman of the
party in the State. It is instructive to
note further that one of the assassins
arrested has been linked to the current
Chairman by blood relationship.
Consequently, it is possible, if not
highly probable that this assassination
may have come from that angle as both of
them were competing for the same office.
Sadly, the IGP is not pursuing this
angle at all as the current Chairman
should also have been in custody as a
suspect but he is walking around freely
and accompanied Governor Akpabio to pay
condolence visit to the family of the
bereaved.
9. THE MAN - LATE MR. PAUL INYANG: The
late Mr. Paul Inyang was a successful
businessman who flourished in the
petroleum distribution and hospitality
businesses. He owned petrol filling
stations and hotels amongst others.
However, he gained political prominence
under the administration and leadership
of former Governor of Akwa Ibom State,
His Excellency, Obong Victor Attah. It
is on record that it was Obong Victor
Attah that recommended, nominated and
pushed through his election as the
Assistant Secretary, South-South zone of
PDP. It is also a fact that his business
experienced unprecedented boom during
the Attah era. This naturally attracted
the envy of others and led to several
previous attempts on his life by way of
kidnap and assassination. This made him
to procure a gun for his personal
protection and he carried it everywhere
including the church. Infact, it was
said that when the assassins stormed the
church looking for him, he escaped
through the
Vestry to his car and pulled out his
gun which he used to shoot and seriously
wounded one of the assassins that was
eventually arrested by the Police. Thus,
even though he had the option to escape
with his life, he elected to defend
himself and died gallantly in the
process. The point here is that he was a
high risk and politically exposed person
that needed no Senator Akpanudoedehe to
send anyone after him. He knew he had
many enemies and he armed himself in
preparation for action at anytime. It is
very unusual to ordinarily bear firearms
to church.
OUR REQUESTS:In view of the foregoing,
we respectfully request as follows:
a. The immediate and unconditional
release of Senator Akpanudoedehe while
proper investigation continues.
b. The immediate removal of the present
Akwa Ibom Commissioner of Police in view
of his partisanship vis-à-vis the
forthcoming 2011 election.
c. The review of previous Security
Reports on the Akwa Ibom State situation
vis-à-vis the vocal complaints to
security agencies before now by Senator
Akpanudoedehe concerning his possibly
being framed up.
d. The review of the report of this
investigation by sister agencies like
the State Security Service among others
in view of the loss of confidence in the
Nigeria Police Force’s lopsided
investigation.
CONCLUSION: Your Excellency Sir, in
conclusion, we wish to remind all of us
that the full name of our State is Akwa
Abasi Ibom which when literally
translated, means the State of the
ALMIGHTY GOD. This Almighty God always
rises up to fight for His people
whenever injustice is visited on them
including the shedding of innocent
blood. This occasion will not be an
exception. That is why we advise
caution. Finally, we shall be most
grateful if you could move quickly to
save us from the fledging dictatorship
of Governor Godswill Akpabio, which if
not timely checked, will make nonsense
of our voters card, one-man-one-vote,
free, fair and credible elections.
Thank you for your anticipated objective
consideration and immediate action in
this regard.
Yours faithfully
BARRISTER ANDEM E. NDEM
National Coordinator
Akwa-Ibom Good Governance Project
Petition sent in
by
AKWA IBOM GOOD GOVERNANCE PROJECT
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
39 OGUNLANA DRIVE, SURULERE, LAGOS
TEL: 08023153217, 08023305456,
08033092105
E-mail:
akggp4real@yahoo.com,
akggp4all@yahoo.com
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