38 Year Old Man Arraigns In Court for Child-Witch Branding and Torture

Benji Rescued by CRARN



Akwa Ibom State: A 38 year old man, Mr. Michael Effiong from Odoronkit
in Esit Esit Eket Local Government Area was on Thursday arraigned before
the Esit Eket Magistrate Court, Uqou over torturing and abandoning of his
seven year old son, Master Benjamin Effoing.



Mr Effoing was arrested barely a week ago by the Esit Eket Divisional
Police Headquarters after a group of NGOs in the area petitioned the
police. The Child’s Right and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN) and the Young
Humanistas Network (YHN) in their joint petition, told the police that Mr.
Effiong had earlier abandoned his little son while he was 3 years old after
putting the little lad under intense torture claiming that he was
responsible for his failure in life.



The little boy, fondly called Benji was rescued to CRARN Children Centre in
Eket where he was given medical attention, care and support for three years
before he was reconciled with the father last year. He was again found
roaming the street, about 11 kilometres away from his father village, with
scars and wounds all over his body. When asked what happened to him, he
said “My father said that the witch power has not finished in my body.
Every night he will tie my legs and hand then hang me on the roof while
beating me with wires and sticks...Then he took me in the night and dropped
in a place I did not know; I began to walk around the street looking for
CRARN Centre.”



Mr Effiong who had earlier signed an undertaking with CRARN to love,
protect and give the child education was arrested in his house early
morning penultimate Friday for not only torturing and abandoning the child,
but for breaching spirit of the undertaking he signed with the
organisations.



The intense pressure from members of the Odoronkit community mounted on the
police to give out Mr Effiong, who is a local wood sawyer on bail, did not,
however, yield dividends. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of
Esit Eket, Mr. *Dike Uchechi, *while chatting with news men said the
prosecution of Mr Effiong will go ahead to serve as a deterrent to others
who make abandonment of children in the area a way of life.

“I told the Police Prosecutor in my division, Mr Akpabio to go and charge
the case to court. This will serve as a deterrent to others” the police
boss said.

Michael Effiong tortured son



Speaking to news men, the Director of Administration of CRARN, Mr. Emmanuel
Okon said the organisation will work with law enforcement agency to
prosecute parents who abandon and torture their children



“CRARN with its partners will continue to follow up cases of torture and
abandonment of children to ensure that the children are not unduly exposed
to danger. For the churches that encourage parents to abuse their children,
they should read the scripture carefully and tell us where it said that
children should be treated in this way.” Mr Okon maintained.



The Project Manager, YHN, Mr Ayobami Ojedokun said he was appalled by the
rate at which children were constantly labelled as witches and thrown out
to roam the streets to become easy prey to human traffickers. He called on
the state government to engage churches in intensive campaign to check the
trend of stigmatizing children as witches.



Though Mr Effiong pleaded guilty to all the charges preferred against him,
the Magistrate, Mrs Esther Etukudo said she will transfer the case to the Director of
Public Prosecution, (DPP) in Uyo who will then proceed with the case to the
family court in line with the new child right law of the state. She
commended CRARN and YHN for job well done and significantly for giving the
child absolute care while being abandon by the parents.

She however, ordered that Mr Effiong be remanded in custody till 23 of
March, 2012 when the case will be transferred to Uyo.

Politics: Godswill Akpabio and his Legal Nightmares

Written by
Ikpafak Thompson Essien

Today (March 6, 2012), in an Abuja courtroom of Judge Karfarati,
Barrister Usoro Usoro, who is representing Godswill Akpabio, looked
like a small Billy-goat---the type which Akpabio himself often use for
sacrifice in one of those his many rituals.

As usual, Barrister Usoro Usoro appeared in court dazed and
unprepared. When the judge asked him if he is ready with his prepared
response to what the legal team of Frank Okon had presented, Barrister
Usoro said "No, Your Honor." With this answer, according to eye
witnesses who were in the courtroom, Judge Karfarati almost
(literally) hit the roof in frustration.

"Ok Counsel," the Judge looked straight at Usoro Usoro and his legal
team, "we will meet for trial on March 19, 2012. Do you understand
that?" Barrister Usoro Usoro, whom, from the beginning, everyone knew
that he has no defense for Akpabio on the matter of Frank Okon versus
his client, looked down on the cement floor of the courtroom and
mumbled, "Yes, Your Honor." On that note, the court adjourned until
March 19, 2012.

Reliable sources have confirmed that when the court sits on March 19,
all available evidence from both sides will be presented. Among the
evidence, which will be presented by the legal team of Frank Okon, is
a sworn affidavit by the former National Chairman of Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Nwodo, in which he stated, under oath,
that he never signed a Certificate of Clearance for Godswill Akpabio
to contest the gubernatorial election, which took place on April 26,
2011. If the affidavit sworn by Nwodo is accepted by the court
(analysts say it will be), then Akpabio risks being ordered by the
court to vacate his claimed position as the Executive Governor of Akwa
Ibom State; something Akpabio is having nightmares about and is now
wishing it never came to this.

Mr. Frank Okon has been telling his supporters that if the decision
of the court forces Akpabio out of the Hilltop Mansion, he will then
be sworn in as the next Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State.
Experts, who are very knowledgeable in the politics of the State, are
arguing about this claim made by Frank Okon. For now, it is very clear
that no one really knows what will happen if Akpabio is forced out of
office.

The Case of Imo Udo

Perhaps, the only one who knows exactly what will happen is Godswill
Akpabio himself. People who are close to Akpabio say he has been
telling those close to him that he would rather die than let Senator
Akpan Udoedehe and Mr. Frank Okon succeed him. Why he feels this way
about the Senator is no longer a secret to the people of Akwa Ibom
State, but his abhorrence for Frank Okon is due to the frustration
induced by Frank's rejection of all sorts of financial offers made by
Akpabio for him (Frank) to drop the pending case. To make sure that
Frank (or Udoedehe) does not end up becoming his successor, Akpabio
came up with another intriguing strategy by introducing Imo Udo to the
scene.

Let us recall that during second PDP Primary in the State on January
15, 2011 only Imo Udo and Godswill Akpabio were presented as the
candidates for PDP. When the result of the Primary was announced by
INEC, Mr. Imo Udo scored only a single (one) vote, while that of
Akpabio was nearly a million. Frank Okon was not allowed to
participate in the Primary because the Committee's Report on the
matter of Science Park, which was set up by Akpabio to probe Frank
Okon's involvement during the administration of Obong Victor Attah,
had indicted Frank of whatever crime it said he committed. Therefore,
as a convict (at least according to Akpabio) Frank was not eligible to
contest the election.

In the mind of Akpabio, since Frank's name was not on the ballot for
the Primary, if he (Akpabio) is forced out of the office, then Senator
Akpan Udoedehe may end up in the Hilltop Mansion, instead of Frank
Okon. And this is a situation Akpabio sweats about each time he thinks
of the scenario. To save the nightmare of what he suspects Udoedehe
will do to him if he becomes a governor, Akpabio contacted Imo Udo,
who had at least one vote during the Primary, to join in the case of
Frank Okon. Akpabio is also of the opinion that if Imo Udo succeeds
him, he (Imo) will never probe Akpabio's theft and other financial
irregularities he has committed against the people of Akwa Ibom State
since he became a governor in 2007.

True or not, there are speculations in Akwa Ibom State that in order
to convince Mr. Imo Udo to enter the case with Frank Okon, Akpabio had
to pay him $1 million United States dollars (others say 10 million
British pounds). Again this is speculative. The problem is those who
know the real story are not talking.

In any case, nearly one year after the case had been proceeding in
the court, Mr. Imo Udo filed a petition sometime in February 2012
before Judge Karfarati, with a request to enter the case both as a
defendant and as a plaintiff. I am not a lawyer, so, I will leave this
part for our legal minds to explain.

Mr. Frank Okon had filed a motion with the court to stop Mr. Imo Udo
from joining his case. Today (March 6, 2012), when the court sat in
Abuja, Judge Karfarati sided with Mr. Frank Okon and dismissed Mr. Imo
Udo's request to join as a defendant in the case. The request to join
as a plaintiff will be decided when the court sits again in two weeks.

Senator Udoedehe Files an Appeal

As had been expected, the lawyers for Senator Akpan Udoedehe have
filed an appeal with the Appellate Court in Calabar. In ten days (from
today) Akpabio’s lawyers are expected to file a response. Then the
Senator’s lawyers will be given another three days to respond to the
response of Akpabio’s lawyers. After that, a date will be set for a
hearing. Analysts say it is very likely that the Appellate Court may
refuse to listen to the case because the matter may be outside its
jurisdiction, which can only be explained by the Supreme Court. The
lawyers for Senator Udoedehe are already making plans for the Supreme
Court. One of the lawyers said to this writer; “It’s not over until
it’s over.”

Written by
Ikpafak Thompson Essien
Oregon

Governor Akpabio's Free Education: A Political Gimmick!

The Godswill Akpabio administration in Akwa Ibom State promises to give pupils access to free and compulsory education from the primary school level to the first three years in secondary school. Beneficiaries can only enjoy the privilege if they are in public schools. And though many residents of the various communities that make up the state may enjoy the facility, residents of Uda in Mbo Local Government Area have said the scheme is only for some sections of the state if at all it ever exist.


Their grouse seems genuine: Uda, being the largest ethnic group with 31 villages, boasts of a population of about 280,000. However, there is no public school in the area. Consequently, their wards and children cannot take advantage of the government scheme.


And to keep the community schools going, the principals have been trying all the tricks in the books, including the reduction of school fees. As a result, the affected communities struggle to keep the schools afloat, with the attendant hardship on the stakeholders.


The principal of the Community Secondary School, Unyenge, Mr. Etim Ekpe, who decried the situation, said he did not understand the parameters the state government used for the location of public schools.

He said, “If the state government is actually sincere about the idea of free and compulsory education, it would have been paying public examination fees of all categories of pupils in public and private schools, especially in those areas where there are no government secondary schools.

“Since it is this administration’s policy to provide free and compulsory education for all residents of the state, it is expedient for the government to accommodate all the indigenes in the scheme of free and compulsory education. We do not even have subvention from the government, which would have made our pupils to have a sense of belonging.”



Also, in Ibaka, another community in Mbo LG, the Principal of the Community Secondary School, Mr. Victor Mkpeti, lamented the neglect of Uda by the state government.

He said the Community Secondary School had received little from the government in form of a four-classroom block, which was allegedly constructed through inter-ministerial direct labour project. According to him, the community deserved more.



He said, “We also received some desks from the government, but we have also made passionate appeal to the government to take over the school in Ibaka. Necessary inspections have been done and concluded, but we are yet to hear from the government.

“In terms of financial assistance, we have not received anything from the government. The parents and guardians of pupils in Uda communities are the ones paying for their children and wards’ examinations’ fees; the government does not pay exam fees for children in Uda communities.”

He added that many people from Uda communities did not know that there was free and compulsory education in the state.



Mkpeti said Ibaka Community Secondary School lost over 1,000 pupils to Enwang Comprehensive Secondary School because of the free education being enjoyed by pupils who attend the latter school.

This being the case, he said, “Our community might as well forget any hope of development; because without education, a community cannot thrive.”



He said if the government could take over the schools in Uda communities, there would be more patronage, more pupils, more teachers, more facilities and overall improved standard of education.



He noted that the financial hardship usually experienced by parents and guardians would reduce, as pupils
who were compelled to relocate to other communities where they rented accommodation, or spent money on transport fares to schools in Enyang, would now stay in their localities.



Mkpeti said the school’s authorities in Ibaka had tried as much as it could to keep the school fee at affordable level so that parents and guardians could afford it for their children.

“We are not public school; we are community secondary school operating like public school. We charge N3,000 per pupil per term as school fee. We need to keep the tuition at minimum so that many parents and guardians can afford them. If we increase the school fee, we may not see anybody here to teach.

“The policy has affected our own welfare because any amount we realise, we channel some to paying staff salaries, while the other is for the maintenance of the school. We seriously need government presence. These pupils are also a part of this state. You can’t empower some and leave the other. Government policy must be balanced,” he said.



The Vice-Principal, Community Secondary School, Unyenge, Mr. John Atte, revealed that both the completed and uncompleted classroom blocks in the school were built by the Universal Energy Resources Limited.



He said the greatest problem between the community and the company was the lack of Memorandum of Understanding. He noted that since the company had shied away from entering into the MOU with the community, it became difficult for both the community and the company to work as a unit to achieve meaningful development.



A teacher, also in the Community Secondary School, Unyenge, Mr. Lincoln Emmanson, said if the government had resolved not to take up any of the secondary schools in Uda, it should at least pay for the WAEC and NECO fees of students in those schools.



He said, “These people belong to Akwa Ibom State. Where will they go to enjoy their rights and privileges other than their own state? It is unbecoming of any government policy to favour only certain sections of the state and leave out others.”



Emmanson said when he visited other communities in Ibibio, Anang and other places; he noticed that places that were not up to a quarter of the size of Uda had between two and three public secondary schools.



An SS II student in the Community Secondary School, Ibaka, Master Okon Johnson, said the state government treated them as if they were not citizens of the state. He said whenever it was election time, the various aspirants would come to Uda communities; but once they got what they wanted, they left.

“This is the most deprived community in the entire state. We do not have roads, we do not have public secondary schools; even the primary schools we have in Uda communities, were built by missionaries. The only government presence is during election.”



Also in Afi Uda, the story is not different, as pupils are said to have deserted the community in search of free and compulsory education in other parts of the state.



For two weeks, our correspondent made attempts to speak with the Commissioner for Education, Dr. Nseabasi Akpan, but he was said to be unavailable. During a visit to his office in the Ministry of Education in Uyo, it was his Personal Assistant, one Mr. Peter (who refused to give his last name) that attended to our correspondent.



Peter said the commissioner would call our correspondent whenever he was able to. A fortnight after the encounter with Peter, the commissioner was yet to call; while several calls to his purported telephone line (as provided by Peter) indicated that it had been switched off.



In his response, the chairman of Mbo LGA, Mr. Okpo Ekere, said there was no reason to establish public secondary schools in Uda communities. He said pupils were free to attend schools in areas where there were public secondary schools.



He said, “Siting a school and attending the school is a matter of choice. I didn’t attend school close to my location. I sat down and took a decision as a young man and communicated that decision to my father that I would like to attend a school away from my home. I entered the school in my Common Entrance Examination form and wrote the exam. I went as far as northern Cross River State to go to school; whereas my parents were residing here in Oron.


“So, you will still have a lot of Uda sons and daughters who will prefer to go to school in Eket, Uda, or in Uyo. As this awareness is on the increase, the attendant effect will be that the host community may have a secondary school that people will not be willing to attend and so there will be no need for government or the private sector to invest within that environment.”
By:Dave Emma

VICTORIA AND THE NIGHTMARE OF AKWA IBOM ‘WITCH’ CHILDREN

Written By

Mecky I. Peters

pmeckfree@yahoo.com



My heart bleeds as I read the story of Victoria. How her own parents subjected her to midnight torture; when everywhere has been calmed, waking her up at night and burning her with candle to extract confession. This time not Victoria Climbie, but Victoria Akwa-Ibom. We reject our own for others to pick and make good use of as if our own ignorance is incurable. The story of Akwa Ibom Child Witch Story is an endless one of the levity with which the government subjected it to.



In Akwa Ibom State, it is very terrible situation while our government tries a lot to make a window dressing as if nothing bad is going on; and the very the church that causes this whole problem is trying to blame humanists and atheist groups for the very problem that they initiated in 1999, brainwashing people with films such as "END OF THE WICKED," "ESCAPE ROOT" and "The COVEN" And books like ''The Seat of Satan Exposed'' ''UNVEILING THE MYSTERY OF WITCHCRAFT'' written by Apostle Helen Ukpabio. The latter states, in part: “If a child under the age of two screams in the night, cries and is always feverish with deteriorating health he or she is a servant of Satan.” This is however a common phenomenon in the rustic Nigerian communities where malaria epidemic is nothing to write home about and given the avalanche of mosquitoes from pot holes, stench-emitting blocked gullies and garbage heaps



Years back, we witnessed how aged people were accused of witchcraft, causing unheard-of atrocity were abused, neglected or killed openly, (Remember Akpan Ekwong who led the killings of people in the early eighties?); no child was ever accused of being a witch. But after such films, music and pulpit theology laced with fear of witchcraft and how children have taken over the witch world, the fate of Akwa Ibom child changed for the worst. In every 2 children accused of witchcraft in Nigeria 1 is from Akwa Ibom. Outside Nigeria, in every 4 children accused of witchcraft, 1 is from Akwa Ibom State. But we continue to downplay on the magnitude of this problem and castigate those who dare to work or campaign to reverse this ugly and dangerous trend. Thank God that this very story is not written by an Akwa Ibom person otherwise they would have referred it to blackmailing AkwaIbom State government at the detriment of child



As I write this piece, inside my mind, I frown at Aniekan Umanah, the present Akwa Ibom State Information Commissioner, for lying to the world that no child has ever being harmed or hurt on account of witchcraft while children continue to face death penalty in churches and their family homes. As we walk the streets daily we see more and more children on the Street because the misinforming, sorry LIAR Commissioner of Orientation and Information has disoriented the people and not help to enlighten his society. I frown at him for not educating the people about the wicked brainwash of these vile and renegade churches.



Some journalists who had reported about the true child witch story to expose the atrocity of these churches and the parents, have been paid by Aniekan Umanah and the Liberty Gospel Church to write a reverse story. With time, I believe we will work with some human right lawyers to face his paid journalists for the monumental deceit. All is not yet Uhuru for them. Let them get paid and tell lies about the fate of children of Akwa Ibom origin. But I must strongly commend some of the journalists and right groups who stood their ground and refused to be paid with blood money to sacrifice our children. Those who see the truth and tell it the way it is; those who have refused to be bought to tell lies. I condemn in the strongest possible terms the News Watch magazine and The News for misleading the public with their paid job to belch cannon of lies about the right groups that work to rescue and protect these vulnerable children. Those who are here knows the truth and cannot be deceived



As I write now, one child is facing jungle justice out there for no crime he or she has committed. Her only crime is that she was born to an Akwa Ibom person, or perhaps in a poor family. The Akwa Ibom Child Fate is that of witch branding, stigmatisation, torture, abandonment, suffocation, trafficking, rituals and DEATH. The government has not done anything to enlighten the folk and religious groups on the superstitious belief of child witchcraft simply because most government officials believe that those children deserve such fate since they are guilty as charged. They pay much attention to buy the media to tell the world that those who campaign for stoppage of child stigmatization; torture and killing are doing so for pecuniary reason without offering an alternative.



Thank goodness, the federal government of Nigeria through Dr Idris Kuta, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development recently issued a statement acknowledging child witch palaver and made a strong condemnation on those stigmatised and torture children in the name of witchcraft.



I just read in media how the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio is working with the state House of Assembly to gag the media with headlines such as “Gov Akpabio’s Akwa Ibom Assembly arrogating Power to Itself to Gag Journalists." “Akwa Ibom Govt moves to gag media over critical reporting of Governor Akpabio”



While I am yet to come to term with this, I will no doubt encourage government to pay attention to the myriads of problem that bedeviled the fate of stigmatised children and do more to curb the menace instead of wasting time establishing repulsive laws that will attract more criticism and cynicism. I agree that the law has been passed since 2008, but how many pastors or parents have been prosecuted. Not a single one! Rather we eulogize them and expect every body to do same. Unfortunate! Apart from the mere arrest and bail-out no one has ever face prosecution. Those who report such pastors to the government or its agency, risk being gunned after, blackmailed, even by same government agents with tacit support from the executive government. Akpabio and his government agents have been very infamous in launching vicious and calumnious attack on the right groups backed up by organisation such as Liberty Gospel Church that invented the child witch imbroglio and indeed phenomenon in Nigeria.



The Story of Victoria from Akwa Ibom State whose parents work in INEC and live in Karu, Abuja tells you that Akwa Ibom Child is not save any where in the world with brainwash launch by the Christian fanatical groups and government inaction or lack of intervention. Victoria's story reminds me of the Good Samaritan who wasn’t a Christian but stopped to rescue the dying Christ. Barrister Aja N. Aja who rescued Victoria is not from Akwa Ibom and may not be a Christian but dovetailed to help Victoria who is an Akwa Ibom Child.



Apart from the Child’s Right and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN) whose, founder (Sam Itauma) and members are Christians all other right groups that are today campaigning for the end to Child stigmatisation are not Christian by inclination or concept but they work tirelessly to save the lives of children who are manacled in churches and starved to death in the name of exorcism and the streets. So what the fusses about atheist and humanist groups when Christian groups have failed us? What the fuss when churches have failed us; when pastors, evangelist, Apostles, Bishop, Prophets have failed us?



I recently attended the attended a UNICEF advocacy meeting here in Akwa Ibom, where a government representative stood up and argued that some of the accused children might be witches. If a government official made such remarks in a high profile advocacy meeting like that, what does one expect how such children will be treated by the an ordinary person?



Such helpless children continue to dot the streets, taking refuge in abandoned structures and becoming prey to human traffickers and ritual killers. What could have happed to all these children if these groups did not step up campaigns to protect them? Reporting such abuse, torture or killing of children on the media is seen as fighting the government. The Akwa Ibom government continues to flaunt its bloated ego sweeping such cruelty on children under the carpet with the archaic cliché “Akwa Ibom Ado Ok”. Meaning Akwa Ibom is Ok! And now, it is “the Uncommon Transformation!” But whatever transformation that may have set in, while the human trafficking business in Nigeria or Africa continues to boom because the syndicates know Akwa Ibom State is a repository of abandoned children only compared to Nepal as a whole, makes such transformation a lip-service.



Truly if the Channel News TV that aired Victoria’s story was in Akwa Ibom, it would not have gone unscathed. The TV anchorman would have been under crucible investigation now by the government security agents. No doubt Governor Akpabio is working round the clock to gag the press using the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly as a puppet, defying the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill that was passed into law by the federal government of Nigeria.



While appreciating the fact that state government had enacted the child protection law, I bemoan bitterly as the implementation still remains a mirage. How many of these pastors or parent have so far been prosecuted, apart from the arrest and bail? One strong question that refuses to depart the lips of many is: What would have happened to the thousands of children stigmatised children if the civil society and right groups had taking to sitting on the fence? Clearly, with about 50 thousands churches in Nigeria, only one church is leading a campaign against witch hunting; with zero tolerance to witchcraft belief. This is Solid Rock Kingdom Church with Apostle John Okoriko. Can other churches and pastors borrow a leaf here?



To this end, I wish to dole out my Diadem of Honour to the right groups and civil society organizations with the following acronyms for working hard to save the witch children of Nigeria: CRARN, UNICEF, NAPTIP, SSN, YHN, CEHRD NHM and indeed the initiator of Anti Child Witch-Hunt Campaign Mr. Sam Itauma for donating time, resources and love for the ostracized children right to life.



Peters writes from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State

FUEL SUBSIDY / AMAKPE REFINERIES CUM CLEMENT IKPATT’S INSULT ON EKET PEOPLE

By Chris Oduok

“ …for failures by Amakpe Refineries, reflects reasonableness and carries along the overwhelming majority of Eket folks in the Diaspora. If it does, that will be so unfortunate and blatantly insulting. I think enough is enough !.... I call on well meaning Eket folks in the Diaspora to intervene and bring about reasonableness within the Eket Development Congress.” Clement Ikpatt

I am baffled, indeed perplexed about your response to the EDC Publication. I was so rattled that I decided to read the Publication again just in case I missed something. I was trying in particular to find the part which accused Gov. Godswill Akpabio for failures by Amakpe Refineries but there was nothing remotely close, if there is, please point it out. I thought the Release was objective and a fervent appeal to the Governor by a group who needed his assistance.

What I consider insulting is your interference in the internal affairs of EDC, Sir, you have absolutely no right to attempt that colonial strategy of divide and conquer, if you succeed, I will consider Eket people the most stupid people on earth and I know they are not. Where did you get the authority to question what EDC says when you are not a member of the organization.

EDC members do not question your press release as a SSA to the Governor ,or President of AIDN, why on earth do you have the effrontery to question EDC. I agree that enough is enough, but what is enough is that colonial mentality where you or anyone else thinks every organization must work in lockstep with your orders even when such orders are contrary to the vision of the organizations members.

You wrote: " No person or organization should try to bend public opinion in order to blackmail or muscle the government into funding that project with N30 million." Ete Clement, are you serious? Did you say we should not bend public opinion?, Should you and your organizations be the only ones to bend public opinion? This is how Dictatorship begins and people lay back and watch another Idi Amin in the making, this is just how it starts.

I have read several Press Releases from you and your organizations, I never read anywhere you guys were muscled into silence. What is the matter with you my friend? When EDC puts out a Press Release, appealing to the State Government to reconsider its position on Amakpe, it is blackmail in your opinion, but when you and your organization puts out a Press Release such as the one demanding the removal of the Governor of the Central Bank (CBN), it is not blackmail, in fact, to you it is a patriotic act by concern citizens, and you were not trying to sway or bend public opinion, Haba! Ete, wake up, you know we Akwa Ibomites and Eket in particular have gone through "uncommon transformation" and cannot be muscled.

We know you are the SSA to the Governor and you need to earn your pay, but you just can't throw objectivity into the dumpster just to please your pay master because you could actually be doing him a disservice. I agree, Akwa Ibomites are beyond wasting time, energies or electronic bytes on meaningless propaganda stunts from the SSA Diaspora. Our concentration must be towards encouraging the "uncommon transformation" of Akwa Ibom State, especially through freedom of people and organizations to exercise free speech and mind its business without undue and unnecessary interference.

You cannot call on Eket folks to fight themselves while you exploit them, the divide and conquer rule. Eket will stay united and address any differences they may have, they will not listen to you, the colonial masters played that trick on our people, it will not work again. Eket in Diaspora will not intervene in Eket Development Congress on your behalf because when EDC called on the Governor of Akwa Ibom State to intervene on their behalf, you the SSA Diaspora said it will not happen, you can't reap where you refuse to sow.


"The freedom to be yourself is the power to be your best"- Chris Oduok

Chris Oduok MBA, CALA
Geriatric Visiting Practitioners
7322 SW FWY, Suite 615
Houston TX 77074

832.969.3315

Drunken cop kills colleague, self on duty!

FROM JOE EFFIONG & AMAOWO UDOFIA, UYO

Hell was let loose on Sunday evening when one of the mobile policemen guarding the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Uyo branch ran amok killing two persons including himself while injuring several others. Daily Sun learnt that the mobile policeman had gone out and returned drunk but demanded for his rifle, which was denied him due to his drunken state, but he forced his way into the armoury, seized a rifle with 30 live ammunition and started firing at random.

It was gathered that the policeman killed his colleague, who tried to prevent him from gaining access into the armoury before firing at two other policemen, Ibok and Muhammed, on duty.
Apart from the police casualty, it was gathered that one Ubong Udosen, who works in the electrical/technical department of the CBN was hit by the assailant’s bullet.
Unconfirmed report has it that the drunk policeman might not have killed himself as the police authorities claim, rather he might have been shot dead by some of his colleagues when he became uncontrollable and was considered a serious security risk.

It was not, however, clear whether it was his colleagues on duty on the CBN premises that silenced him or men from the security outfit in the state code-named Robot, who were attracted by the sporadic gunshots at the bank. It was learnt they helped in bringing sanity to the premises.

The two injured policemen, one of whom was shot in the crotch, were successfully operated upon in a private hospital along Ben Udo Street, Uyo. Daily Sun learnt that they were responding to treatment.
But the case of Udosen was still critical as at 4.00pm yesterday, as he could not talk or move any of his limbs and had to be tube-fed.
Our correspondent learnt that they were initially rushed to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital but were not given immediate attention. The team had to take them to a private clinic, which mortuary the corpses of the two policemen were equally deposited.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Onyeka Orji, when contacted said the matter was being investigated.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, who equally confirmed the incident, however said it was a case of accidental discharge, which was promptly brought under control. He said the command had even informed the IGP of the incident.

EKET DEVELOPMENT CONGRESS (EDC) USA POSITION ON FUEL SUBSIDY AND THE AMAKPE REFINERIES

Gov Akpabio, hunted by Amakpa Referies


PRESS RELEASE: EKET DEVELOPMENT CONGRESS (EDC) POSITION ON FUEL

SUBSIDY AND HOW THE

COMPLETION OF AMAKPE REFINERIES WOULD HELP ALLEVIATE THE PROBLEM.



In light of the recent fuel subsidy crisis in Nigeria which almost

derailed our fragile Democracy and its continuous aftershocks, Eket

Development Congress USA Inc. (EDC) has decided to add its voice to those

of millions of Nigerians who believe that the solution to the subsidy

issue is within our power to ameliorate. The Federal Government and the

Akwa Ibom State Government in particular should seize this golden

opportunity to jump start talks with Amakpe Refinery, a Project with

benefits that would extend beyond the shores of Nigeria.

Like many Nigerians of different works, EDC is at a loss as to why the 8th

largest producer of Crude Oil in the world, Nigeria, is unable or

unwilling to refine adequate fuel for at least local consumption? Why do

we have to subsidize fuel imported from outside the country when we can

refine enough within the borders of Nigeria? Many have argued that it is

not profitable to refine locally as long as we are subsidizing imported

fuel, if we as Nigerians know what the problem is, why are we not willing

to fix it by creating the environment to promote the establishment of more

local refineries.


EDC notes with interest Governor Akpabio’s recent statement in which he

expressed his support for the removal of the subsidy, and maintained that

the subsidy was applicable to fuel imports, and therefore had no potential

to generate employment, or add to the country’s gross domestic product.

The Governor was also quoted as saying that rather than subsidizing

consumption, the government should subsidize production, pointing out that

under the subsidy, those who ran refineries were not eligible for subsidy

but were expected to sell at the regulated price, while those importing

fuel were benefiting from the subsidy.


Given the above comments and recent pronouncements by the government of

Akwa Ibom State, led by Governor Godswill Akpabio, to release the sum of

one billion dollars for the industrialization of the state that has

prompted EDC to assume that Governor Akpabio would fully support an

immediate commencement of talks with the Amakpe Refinery promoters with

the aim of finding a lasting solution to the impasse.


The Amakpe Refinery Project requires the sum of $30 million to fund the

pending receivables and construction costs to complete full implementation

at the Project site in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, and will start-up production

and be operational within six months of shipment of the completely

fabricated Refinery Equipment. Implementation of the Amakpe Refinery

Project will create over 1,000 direct jobs and about 5,000 indirect jobs

in the restive Niger Delta of Nigeria which would go a long way in

assisting the Federal Government Militancy Rehabilitation Program. Within

a few years of operation, the 6,000 BPD Amakpe Refinery will increase

its refining capacity through 12,000BPD to 50,000 BPD, and would create

over 3,000 direct jobs and 20,000 indirect jobs, with the ability to

reduce militancy and kidnappings in the Niger Delta Region .

Furthermore, the development will support the genuine efforts of the

Federal Government of Nigeria aimed at increasing local crude oil refining

capacity and making Nigeria Energy independent, which will help to address

the problem of Fuel subsidy.

Prayers:

EDC is requesting Your Excellency, Governor Godswill Akpabio to note the

urgent importance of the Project towards your Industrialization program in

Akwa Ibom State and by extension, Nigeria’s economic growth and

development and;


(a) Intervene in the seeming misunderstanding between the Primary

Promoters and the Akwa Ibom State Government.

(b) Facilitate the approval of a US$30 million loan request made by

Sterling Bank to the Bank of Industry (“BOI”) to support the completion of

the Project; and

(c) Encourage the Federal Government to grant Amakpe Refinery Project the

benefit from the Department of Petroleum Resources Fiscal Incentives for

development of Private Refineries.

EDC urges Akwa Ibom State government to reconsider its position in the

interest of the overall good of our citizens, as it strives to create

gainful employment for the citizens of Akwa Ibom State in particular and

Nigeria in general. EDC also urges both parties to enter into good faith

negotiations and find a way out of the quagmire. We believe that the

Government of Akwa Ibom State as a "senior member" of our society should

invite the Amakpe Promoters for talks in the interest of our State and for

the benefit of all.

We thank you and we look forward to your commissioning of the Amakpe

Refinery Project in the very near future.

Margaret Itauma Nwaessien Essien

National President National Secretary

Eket Development Congress USA Inc

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PRESS RELEASE: EKET DEVELOPMENT CONGRESS (USA) INC.

PO Box 540106, Houston Texas USA 77254

Http://www.eketusa.org/