‘Calling Akpabio names will not bring justice to Ukpanah’s family’ - Gov. Akpabio’s media assistant, Anietie Ekong

Gov. Godswill Akpabio

By Nse Peter

Governor Godswill Akpabio’s Special Assistant on Media, Anietie Ekong has described as ‘blatant lie’, the allegation that the governor ordered the detention of Odudu Ukpanah, the son of the slain outspoken chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State, Albert Ukpanah.

Albert Ukpanah, known for his opposition against Godswill Akpabio’s senate ambition, was shot dead in March last year at his home in Abak Local Government Area by unknown gunmen. The police later arrested his only son, Odudu, in connection with the murder. Odudu, a UK-trained petroleum management expert, has spent more than nine months in Prison. But the family says he is innocent of the accusation. They suspect that those who are after Odudu are the same people who killed his father.

Akpabio’s Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Anietie Ekong said instead of attacking the governor, people should “appeal to all those involved in the dispensation of justice to the Ukpanah’s family to do so expeditiously.”

“Let me appeal that calling Governor Akpabio names on the internet and falsely claiming he ordered the arrest of Odudu will not bring justice to the family,” Mr. Ekong posted on Facebook, in response to enquiry about the governor’s role in the detention of Odudu Ukpanah.

Ekong said, “From what I had gathered the father was gruesomely murdered by unknown assailants and being the only one who was reportedly with the father at the time of the incident, the Police may have felt he has a case to answer and probably throw more light on the matter.”

He said Odudu’s case is pathetic and that he is confident the court will free him if he is innocent.

But a young human right activist in Akwa Ibom State, Inibehe Effiong says there is nothing wrong in people attacking Governor Godswill Akpabio over the detention of Odudu Ukpanah.

Mr. Inibehe Effiong told Think Akwa Ibom! in an exclusive interview that the people attacking Akpabio over the Internet are doing so out of provocation for the continuous detention of Odudu Ukpanah. “If Akpabio had conscience, Odudu would not have been detained in the first place given the plausible, cogent and verifiable fact that his father was assassinated by ‘politically motivated assassins,’ said Inibehe Effiong. (Click here, to read Inibehe’s interview)

Effiong who is Convener of the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders ( COHRD ) said the Police Investigation Report stated that the late PDP chieftain was killed by ‘politically motivated assassins’ and that the report suggested that further investigations be carried out to find the real killers of Ukpanah. He said there have been countless assassinations in the state, and asked, “are they also saying that the other persons that have been murdered in the state were also killed by their children?”