How's your family
coping, without Odudu?
It is very devastating. The pain is unimaginable. Not being
allowed to grief the irreparable loss of your dad and having to deal with your
only brother being incarcerated is a pain beyond the imaginable.
How's his condition
inside the prison?
His health is deteriorating as result of pneumonia which he
had in the UK and has worsened with him being in prison. He looked very ill
when he came to court on the 15th of December 2014.
Can you briefly tell
us what really happened on the day your father, Albert Ukpanah was
assassinated, and how your brother, Odudu became a prime suspect?
On the 12th of March 2014, on the fateful day, our brother
and the security guard were the only persons at our 40 Mkpokporo Street
residence, Abak, Akwa Ibom State. They informed us that our dad went to Uyo the
State capital at about 8a.m and returned home at about 4p.m, he had lunch then
told both of them (Odudu and the security guard who is also a distant relative)
that he was going out with a friend and would not be using his car which is
something he sometimes did.
He returned home at 8p.m and called Odudu to open the gate
as the day security guard had closed at 7p.m. When he got into the compound he
asked our brother to put out three plastics chairs which are constantly outside
and only taken in when our security guard was about to close as he most often
preferred to attend to political meetings outside. After putting out the chairs he (Odudu) went
into the house to continue watching the football match. He noted that at about
9p.m our father had come into the house and picked a bottle of Remy Martin and
a can of stout. At that point he knew his guests were around. Serving drinks to
his friends/visitors by himself was never a big deal to him. Please note that
our dad having political meetings in our home was a normal practice which had
gone on for years and it wasn't unusual not to know or see who came and went.
Due to constant lack of electricity the generating set – a lister
generator – was on, making it usually difficult for anyone inside the house to
hear things happening outside. Hence, the inability of our brother to hear if
there was any scuffle outside the house. However, at about 10:45p.m when the
match was over he looked through his bedroom window which is the only room
facing the entrance of the house to see if the meeting was over, instead he saw
someone's leg on the floor and rushed out only to meet our father in the pool
of his blood. He immediately raised an alarm, neighbours and passers-by who
were returning from watching the match at different viewing centres rushed into
the compound. They assisted Odudu in rushing dad to the hospital where he was
confirmed dead.
The murder was reported to Abak police station but file was
transferred immediately to police headquarters at Ikot Akpan Abia, Uyo, Akwa
Ibom State. Operatives of the State Security Service also joined the police in
investigating the case.
Is it true that Odudu
confronted Governor Godswill Akpabio when the governor paid a condolence visit
to your family?
News of our dad's death went viral on the print media and
internet with lots of Akwa Ibomite, even the ones in Diaspora accusing the
State Government of being instrumental to his murder. When the State Governor paid a condolence
visit to the family residence on the 20th of May 2014 and repeatedly stated
that he was accused of killing our father of which our brother told him that we
were not the ones writing the articles as we were too traumatized and had left
the murderers in the hands of God. A newsletter was published the next day 21st
May, 2014 in Government-owned Pioneer Newspaper by the government pressmen
stating ‘Akpabio has no hand in my fathe’'s murder’ – Ukpanah’
What's the impact of
the #ReleaseOduduUkpanah campaign so far?
It's been overwhelming. When we decided to start the
campaign we didn't know the response from people would generate such attention
but the urge to shout out for help had become pertinent. The reach out from men
and women from the media/blogs (both print and Internet) has been phenomenal.
Our prayer and purpose of the campaign is for our brother to be released.
You said the
state-owned The Pioneer newspaper had published a news report with the title
"Akpabio has no hand in my father's murder"-Ukpanah. Was it your
brother, Odudu Ukpanah that the paper referred to in that news story? If yes,
did Odudu actually say that to the paper - that the governor didn't have a hand
in Ukpanah's assassination?
Yes they were referring to Odudu. When the governor visited
he said that people had been accusing him of our dad's murder. While Odudu's
response was that we also saw the stories on prints media and Internet but that
we had left the murderers in the hands of God.
Who do you think is
after your family, and why?
We don't know who is after our family. We have no political
ambitions.
It appears you've
just made up your mind to speak up against the continuous detention of your
brother. Where did you get the courage from?
Pent up anger and the injustice meted to our family even
after the gruesome murder of our father, as well as the present health
conditions of our mum which continued to fail as a result of not seeing her
only son for seven months after the burial of her husband. And also, our only
brother's ill health in prison. Mom is
totally devastated.To what extent are you willing to go, to ensure that Odudu is released?
We want out brother released. So therefore we need justice
and will stand up for it. We will fight to the last for this anomaly to be
corrected. The truth must be heard.
If eventually you
have Odudu released, will your family put pressure on the state to fish out
those behind your father's assassination?
What matters to us now is Odudu's unconditional release.
And finally, how
would you describe Odudu? What kind of person is he?
He is a Christian boy with a good upbringing.
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