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Tag: Akwa Ibom

  • 10, 000 for Akwa Ibom rerun

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Akwa Ibom has said it will deploy 10, 000 personnel for Saturday’s rerun elections.

    Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Dr Gabriel Ada spoke with reporters yesterday in Uyo.

    Ada said of the 10,000, 3,500 were ad hoc while the rest were INEC and security officials.

    The elections would be conducted in five constituencies; Etinan, ibesikpo/Asutan, Ikot Ekpene/Obot Akara, Oron/Udung Uko and Itu.

    The rerun was ordered by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which nullified their April 11, 2015, election.

    The REC said he had received sensitive materials, such as ballot papers and result sheets.

    “Right now, we have met with party stakeholders; we had three meetings.

    “They have assured us that they will cooperate with INEC and security agents to make this election hitch-free; they have signed peace accord,” he said.

    Ada said the card reader would be used “to verify whether the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) belong to INEC and the holder of the card’’.

    He said accreditation and voting would be done simultaneously.

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman in the state, Mr Paul Ekpo, said he was satisfied with the process, and described it as “transparent’’.

    He appealed to members to be orderly and obey security agents.

    Vice Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Mr Kufre Inyangette, said he was satisfied with the distribution of sensitive materials by INEC.

  • Akwa Ibom community blames govt for 59-year-old crisis

    The struggle for the ownership and control of four parcels of land has divided two former friendly and neighbouring villages, Ikot Mbuk Village of Idoro sub-clan and Ekim Village of Ibiaku sub-clan, both in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State.

    The once friendly villages now have nothing in common. They don’t cross each other’s village, intermarry, trade in the same market, attend the same school or church anymore. The only thing these two communities now do in common apart from breathing the air that God gives to every living creature, is engage each other in occasional  fight over land which often results in death and destruction of properties.

    The crisis which is said to have started in 1957 has consumed about 20 lives in Ikot Mbuk with a population of  about 15,000  while goods and property worth over N2.5 billion is said to have been destroyed especially between 2004 and 2015.

    Addressing the Press in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital  over the weekend, elders of Ikot Mbuk Village: Elder Abraham Emmanuel, Chief Okon Essien Udo, Deputy Village Head and representative of the Village Head, Eteidung Pastor E. U. Akpanobong and Chief Ekanem Essien, said they were forced to speak out because of recent publications in some newspapers by the Ekimbok Village claiming ownership of four parcels of land in our village. “ Ikot Mbuk Village owns the land, Ekim Ibiaku lied to mislead government and the public. Their claim is misleading, mischievous and false”,  the Ikot Mbuk elders insisted.

    The Ikot Mbuk elders who blamed the State government for ‘ looking on while the problems gradually becomes a monster’, noted that if government had taken enough interest in resolving the crisis, the lives wasted and property destroyed over years would have avoided.

    The elders stated that the land tussle is only between Ikot Mbuk in Idoro sub-clan and Ekim village in Ibiaku sub-clan and not the whole Idoro clan as the Ekim people wants the public to know.

    “ From time immemorial, Ikot Mbuk village in Ibiono Ibom Local government area has been the owner and has the right of occupancy of the four parcels of land, namely Edem Nyo, Obot Awawa, Obot Ototoho and Ikot Andem Umoatang, which all situate at Ikot Mbuk village”, Elder Abraham Emmanuel explained.

    Elder Abraham said:“From time immemorial, the four parcels of land were first founded and deforested by our progenitor, late Chief Mbuk. The people of Ikot Mbuk village now, who are the descendants have, farmed and cultivated the four parcels of land without encumbrances, even bury our dead ones and maintain shrines without encumbrances.”

    He insisted that the natural boundary between their two communities is the DUEM Stream which those who first migrated to Ekim Village observed until the middle of 1900 when some people from Ekim village started tampering with ancient landmarks which Ikot Mbuk village resisted and will continue to resist, the elders vowed.

    Chief Okon Essien Udo, Deputy Village head who relied on Survey Plan number UND/23/72 SES  quoted the following parcels of land: Edem Nyo, Obot Aduem, Akwa Anwa, Ikot Mbuk village settlement, Andik Ukok, Ndiogho, Obot Ekpo, Obot Awawa, Obot Ototoho and Ikot Andem Umoatang, as all being on the Ikot Mbuk side of the DUEM Stream side as ruled by the Uyo High Court in Suit Number HU/40/76 and affirmed by Enugu Appeal Court Number FCA/E/50/82 published in the Nigerian Weekly Law Report of 10/11/86 at page 393.

    The Ikot Mbuk village elders said the Itu Boundary Committee was constituted on February 1, 1992 but the Ekim people refused to show up while their people waited with the Committee at the Ikot Mbuk and Ekim Village bridge head, venue of the meeting.

    For a lasting solution, the elders call on Governor Udom Emmanuel to undertake a physical inspection of the disputed land area in order to ascertain the permanent boundary between  Ekim Village and Ikot Mbuk. The panel, the elders suggested, should be made up of men of impeachable character, with requisite experience and fear of God.

    They proposed that the two villages should be restricted to their own side of the DUEM Stream boundary for social, cultural, mining, hunting and agricultural purposes.

    They request compensations to be paid to the Ikot Mbuk people for the heavy losses they had suffered over the years. They claimed they had lost over N2.5 billion in terms of residential, household, farm and economic crops and more than 20 lives.

    “Ekim people, their warriors and fighters are laying siege in our surrounding bushes and farmlands and should be ordered out of those hiding places immediately to allow our people go about their legitimate undertakings unhindered,”the elders said.

     

     

  • Fire, fire everywhere in Akwa Ibom

    Fire, fire everywhere in Akwa Ibom

    •Goods worth over N250 million gone

    FIRE swept through various parts of Akwa Ibom State in the last two weeks. Goods and businesses destroyed are estimated at over N250 million. Two petrol stations in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area and a whole fishing community in Ibeno Local Government Area were affected by the fire. Over 500 people were affected. The extent of damage and number of people affected at the fishing settlement had already drawn the attention of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly.

    At the fishing community at Uton  in ward 7, Iwuochang in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, about 500 inhabitants have been  rendered homeless when the community was suddenly gutted.

    Mr Usoro Akpanusoh, (PDP) member representing Esit Eket/Ibeno state constituency in the State House of Assembly, disclosed this at plenary during matters of Urgent Public Importance last week.

    Usoroh said the fire, which occurred on February 12 at about 2am, consumed all the houses and property worth millions of naira belonging to the fishing community.

    He lamented that the fire outbreak which cause was yet unknown had destroyed almost everything before the arrival of officials of the fire service.

    “Uton in Iwuochang community in Ibeno Local Government Area is a fishing settlement, which I represent in Akwa Ibom House of Assembly.

    “Its population is over 500 and main occupation is fish farming.

    “At about 2.00am on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, the fishing settlement was engulfed by fire outbreak. This happens at the wee hours of the morning when everyone was asleep,” Akpanusoh said.

    The lawmaker appealed to the House to constitute a committee to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the fire.

    He urged the Assembly to order the executives to send National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to visit the settlement for assistance.

    The report was received through a motion by Mr Lawrence David (PDP) Eket state constituency which was  seconded by the Mr Nse Essien (PDP) Onna state constituency.

    The Speaker, Mr Onofiok Luke, consoled with the Uton community and thanked God that no live was lost in the inferno.

    The speaker directed the Clerk, Mrs Mandu Umoren, to communicate to relevant agencies to visit the community as matter of urgent public importance for an on the spot assessment and to render necessary assistance.

    Fire service in Akwa Ibom State is to close down filling stations that refuse to adhere to safety measures and prosecute owners following fire outbreak on two filling stations at Ibekwe and Uta Ewa in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area two Sundays ago.

    Inferno was said to have been ignited in the two filling stations – Emesons Ventures Nigeria Limited located at Ibekwe road and Uta Ewa Waterfront in Ikot Abasi when trucks were discharging the products. It was gathered that the two filling stations are owned by one man.

    Principal Fire Superintendent 1, Mrs. Ime Nkanta, urged marketers to adopt strictest safety guidelines particularly when trucks are discharging petroleum products.

    “We have been advising filling station owners to stop discharging petroleum product using pump but rather using hose between the tankers and the underground tanks.

    “But some petrol station owners do not want to adhere to safety instructions.

    “We have been talking to them; henceforth we will embark on closing stations that do not want to abide by precautionary motive,” she said.

    She advised Nigerians to be careful when using electrical appliances like water heater as it can easily ignite fire after the system had sufficiently been heated if not attended to.

    She explained that the cause of the incident was due to noncompliance with fire service rules by the filling station owner.

    She said, “The truck that was about to discharge petrol into an underground tank in the filling station caught fire and as soon as the discharge started.

    “We came out before they even ran to us as one of the stations is opposite the fire service. We started fighting the fire immediately.”

    She added that the fire razed the two filling stations within one week and destroyed property worth millions of naira. She noted that some of the property the fire destroyed include truck, buildings and nozzles, among others.

    Former councilor in Ikpa Ibekwe, Mr. Uyoatta Ikpaisong, said that the incident happened on Sunday at about 1:30pm in the area.

    The councilor commended the men and officers of Ikot Abasi fire service and Eket counterparts for their prompt response even though the havoc had already been done.

    He added that their prompt response stopped fire from spreading to other buildings around the two filling stations.

    He, however, called on the  Government to invest more in the agency in order to achieve its objectives.

    When contacted, the manager of filling stations  who refused to disclose his name said he was not around when the incident occurred.

  • Akwa Ibom Medical City hopes to end medical tourism

    Akwa Ibom Medical City hopes to end medical tourism

    With the ground-breaking of Thompson and Grace Medical City Projects in Afaha Obong, Abak, Akwa Ibom State, it is hoped that the projects when completed would stop Foreign medical trips and create jobs, writes Kazeem Ibrahym

    As part of the efforts to encourage private-sector driven economy in Akwa Ibom State, the State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, has performed the ground-breaking of the proposed Thompson & Grace Medical City projects in Afaha Obong, Abak Local Government Area of the state.

    The proposed Thompson & Grace Medical City projects, according to the Group Managing Director of Thompson & Grace, Dr. Isaac Amos, will amongst other facilities include the proposed Medical University, 505 Megawatts Combined Cycle Power Plant and Parenteral Infusion & Dialysis Concentrate Plant, all to be located in a vast expanse of virgin land in Abak, Akwa Ibom State.

    Dr. Amos explained that when the dream is fully realized, the centre would have reduced the need by Nigerians to travel to the United States of America, United Kingdom, India, China, Germany, or any other nation for that matter, in search of cure and healings.

    He also said no more would the people be victims of preventable, treatable and curable diseases because of ignorance and non-availability of requisite medical training, equipment and infrastructure.

    The benefits people of Akwa Ibom will derive from the projects are enormous according to Dr. Amos. He said the projects will create quality health and education standards for the people, create employment for the youths and medical practitioners, some who currently are forced to serve in other nations and climes.

    Dr. Amos said: “Nigeria continues to experience an acute shortage of health professionals. Emigration of health personnel compounds the problem. A sizeable number of physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals are lured away to developed countries in search of fulfilling and lucrative positions because of our broken health care system, inadequate infrastructure and poor compensation packages.

    “Doctors and nurse also emigrate from Nigeria because of unbearable work conditions. Many Nigerian doctors have emigrated to North America and Europe. In 2005, 2,392 Nigerian doctors practiced in the U.S. and 1,529 practiced in the U.K. increased training of doctors and nurses is not a solution as long as the work conditions remain problematic.”

    An example of unbearable work conditions, according to Dr. Amos, is intimidation and violence directed towards health workers.

    He said: “Our cultural and legal system seem to have no effective answer to this problem. Health care workers therefore prefer to seek employment elsewhere when they are tired of suffering in silence or without remedy.

    “We hope to a reference point in this vital area of health care sustenance for other to follow. Physical and psychological safety of health care workers with zero tolerance for bullying and harassment in the work environment will be one of the priorities of the proposed Thompson and Grace Medical University/Thompson and Grace Health systems.

    “The demand for and consumption of health care services in on the increase. Equally, there is an upswing in the emergence and incidence of new and chronic diseases without a counterbalancing increase in the quantity and quality of health care workers.”

    Emmanuel said the state government had already commenced several ground-breakings in respect of private-driven economy.

    He assured the proprietors of the Proposed Medical City of the state government’s adequate support to bring the project to fruition.

    The governor noted that the project, apart from the medical solutions that the Medical City would bring to the entire African continent: “it is hoped that not less than 35,000 Akwa Ibom State indigenes will assess employment opportunity when the project takes off.”

    Represented by his Deputy, Mr. Moses Ekpo, the governor praised the ingenuity and patriotic spirit of the Group Managing Director of Thompson & Grace, Dr. Amos for siting the project in Akwa Ibom State.

    He said: “I am higly elated that this University is the brainchild of an indigene of Akwa Ibom State; a continued confirmation of the enormous human resources God has endowed our state with. It is also a further testimony to our philosophy of promoting a private –sector driven investment and industrial revolution in the state.

    “From projections, this institution will provide employment for over 100 specialised manpower as well as several unskilled personnel when it goes into full capacity annual production of 96 million bags of infusion and 16 million litres of Dialysis concentrate, running at three shifts.

    “From very reliable sources, I am aware that the Thompson and Grace Group is also developing a fully automated machining and Engineering Industry in this city as it has already done in Port Harcourt. The industry aims to manufacture an unbelievable array of service parts for at least eight sectors of our economy including Aviation and Aerospace, Energy, Oil & Gas, Engineering Industry, Printing Industry, Plastic Industry, Hydraulic and Pneumatic, as well as Automotive industry.

    “Altogether, it is estimated that at full completion and operation, the Manufacturing company as well as the Medical City intends to employ about 35,000 citizens of Akwa Ibom origin and other Nigerians in what appears to be one of the biggest Foreign Direct Investment drives in this part of the world.”

    One of project partners, Prof. Dr. med. Thomas Ruzicka, Director, Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Germany, promised to deploy experienced medical experts to support the project.

    Chiedu Ndubisi, Technical Adviser to the Director General of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) who represented the DG, Mr. Aminu Diko, pledged the support of his Commission to the proprietors of the projects in facilitating their requests to the Federal Government.

    Also the Chairman, Project Implementation Committee of the Proposed Medical University, Emmanuel Uche, said the fact on the ground is that whereas Nigeria has 25 medical colleges and South Africa 8, yet of the 10 best-ranked Universities in Africa, South Africa has 7 and Nigeria Zero.

    Dr. Christian Usungurua, who presented a speech on behalf of the host community, thanked Dr. Amos for opening up the community to the global community.

  • Ekpri Nsukara villages in Akwa Ibom protest demolition of houses

    Ekpri Nsukara villages in Akwa Ibom protest demolition of houses

    A community, Ekpri Nsukara Group of villages in Offot Clan in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, during the week protested the unlawful demolition of their houses by management of University of Uyo.

    The protesters in their letter of protest by their lawyers to Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, said the land in dispute is a subject matter of litigation pending in court and the University management is aware of the pendency of the said suit.

    They, however, expressed surprised that the management of the institution would take law into their hands in total disregard to the principle of les pendis.

    According to them, Ekpri Nsukara Group of villages in Offot Clan in Uyo have not encroached into the land donated to the then Cross River State Government for the permanent site of the then Cross River State College of Education and the portion of land which the university management have entered and demolished houses did not form part of the land donated by the community.

    They said: “On several occasions the university management has attempted to forcefully encroach on the land using military personnel but our clients have lawfully resisted the attempt. Our clients through their lawyers have written to the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State seeking for dialogue with the university but to no avail.

    “In 2014 our clients filed a suit challenging the attempt by the university to take over possession of their land which did not form part of the land donated to the then Cross River State Government, the university participated in the proceedings until the month of November 2015 when the suit was withdrawn.

    “However, our clients filed another suit on December 3, 2015 and the court processes were duly served on the university management. Rather than respond to the suit, the management has resorted to self help and attempt to foist a fait accompli on the court.

    “Our clients have refrained from taking laws into their hands even in the face of provocation and still believe in the principles of rule of law. We therefore urge you to intervene in this matter in the interest of justice and direct the university to stop forthwith any action which may lead to a total breakdown of law and order in the state.”

    It was gathered that the bulldozers allegedly sent by authorities of the University of Uyo, on February 1, 2016 wrecked havoc to buildings and properties situated in Ekpri Nsukara and Use communities, sending property owners into mourning.

    Eye witnesses, who spoke to our reporter stated that at about 1.30 pm, more than twenty truckloads of soldiers, policemen and other security agencies, escorted a team of officials of the University of Uyo into the area and immediately commenced the destruction of buildings.

    The fierce-looking soldiers dared anybody to come near the area.

    House owners stood by and watched helplessly their buildings reduced to rubbles. Owners of plots of land in the area are mostly civil servants who had used the last of their incomes to erect a place they could lay their heads.

  • Ekpri Nsukara villages in Akwa Ibom protest demolition of houses

    A community, Ekpri Nsukara Group of villages in Offot Clan in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, during the week protested the unlawful demolition of their houses by management of University of Uyo.

    The protesters in their letter of protest by their lawyers to Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, said the land in dispute is a subject matter of litigation pending in court and the University management is aware of the pendency of the said suit.

    They, however, expressed surprised that the management of the institution would take law into their hands in total disregard to the principle of les pendis.

    According to them, Ekpri Nsukara Group of villages in Offot Clan in Uyo have not encroached into the land donated to the then Cross River State Government for the permanent site of the then Cross River State College of Education and the portion of land which the university management have entered and demolished houses did not form part of the land donated by the community.

    They said: “On several occasions the university management has attempted to forcefully encroach on the land using military personnel but our clients have lawfully resisted the attempt. Our clients through their lawyers have written to the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State seeking for dialogue with the university but to no avail.

    “In 2014 our clients filed a suit challenging the attempt by the university to take over possession of their land which did not form part of the land donated to the then Cross River State Government, the university participated in the proceedings until the month of November 2015 when the suit was withdrawn.

    “However, our clients filed another suit on December 3, 2015 and the court processes were duly served on the university management. Rather than respond to the suit, the management has resorted to self help and attempt to foist a fait accompli on the court.

    “Our clients have refrained from taking laws into their hands even in the face of provocation and still believe in the principles of rule of law. We therefore urge you to intervene in this matter in the interest of justice and direct the university to stop forthwith any action which may lead to a total breakdown of law and order in the state.”

    It was gathered that the bulldozers allegedly sent by authorities of the University of Uyo, on February 1, 2016 wrecked havoc to buildings and properties situated in Ekpri Nsukara and Use communities, sending property owners into mourning.

    Eye witnesses, who spoke to our reporter stated that at about 1.30 pm, more than twenty truckloads of soldiers, policemen and other security agencies, escorted a team of officials of the University of Uyo into the area and immediately commenced the destruction of buildings.

    The fierce-looking soldiers dared anybody to come near the area.

    House owners stood by and watched helplessly their buildings reduced to rubbles. Owners of plots of land in the area are mostly civil servants who had used the last of their incomes to erect a place they could lay their heads.

  • Workers of Akwa Ibom acquired schools seek intervention

    About 478 teachers and non-teaching staff of six community secondary schools taken over by the government of Akwa Ibom State  since 2012, have appealed to Governor Udom Emmanuel for attention.

    The group under the aegis of “Absorbed teaching and non-teaching staff of state secondary education board (SSEB)”,  said they have  not been paid salaries and other entitlements since the takeover of their schools, a situation they said has resulted into hardship and death of seven of their members.

    In a letter a titled: “A passionate appeal for intervention”, addressed to the state commissioner for education through the Chairman, State Secondary Education Board and  copied to  the governor, Head of Service, Accountant-General and Commissioner for Finance, they recalled that in 2012, former governor Godswill Akpabio took over six community secondary schools from their owners  and posted them into the said schools.

    They regretted that five years after the takeover, the government is yet to begin payment of salaries and other emoluments to them.

    “Consequently we are using this medium to sincerely appeal to you to use your good offices to find a lasting solution to this festering and lingering crisis, which has been pending for years now. We are, indeed, aware that this government is concerned about the future of this state and ultimately, we think that quality education holds the key that unlocks a people’s greatness,” the letter, which was signed by six representatives from the six schools, read in part.

    The commissioner for education, Aniekan Akpan, in his reaction, said he is aware of the predicament of the affected people. He assured that the matter is receiving adequate attention from appropriate quarters.

    He lamented that Governor Udom Emmanuel, who is about eight months in office, inherited a lot of issues, noting that efforts are being made to find a lasting and acceptable solution.

  • Akwa Ibom ’ll remain PDP’s stronghold, says Akpabio

    Akwa Ibom ’ll remain PDP’s stronghold, says Akpabio

    Senate Minority Leader and former governor of Akwa Ibom  State Godswill Akpabio has said that  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will produce the  governor in 2019.

    He spoke at the recent rally held in his honour and his successor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, by the people of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District.

    Akpabio said: “When I came to you in 2006, I told you Godswill should be done and you the people of Akwa Ibom agreed with me and Godswill was done. In 2011, I said Godswill should be done again, you agreed with me and it was done.  In 2015 I pleaded with you to allow Godswill to be done again and again, you all made it happen. I will come back to you in 2019 and demand that Godswill should be done again, and again and again and I know it will happen”

    He spoke on the All Progressive Congress (APC) over its loss at the Supreme Court, saying that the party demanded judgment, instead of justice, which is basic rights of citizens.

    While lauding the Supreme Court for transparency, justice and fairness, he said the court demonstrated boldness in its push for the independence of the judiciary. He also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for providing the Supreme Court a conducive judicial atmosphere for the discharge of its duties.

    “I also acknowledge the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Gen. Buhari, for not meddling with or interfering in the Supreme Court judgment which has been the most transparent in recent times”, he said.

    Akpabio said the turbulent days of political warfare in Akwa Ibom State had been gone and urged the people of Ikot Ekpene senatorial district to support the government of Emmanuel to ensure continuity with the uncommon transformation of Akwa Ibom State.

     

  • Supreme Court ruling can bring about self-help, says Akwa Ibom APC

    The Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the Supreme Court failed it by affirming the election of Governor Udom Emmanuel.

    It regretted the Supreme Court’s judgment on the 2015 election of Governor Emmanuel, stating that the decision is capable of eroding public confidence in the judiciary.

    Though the Supreme Court will give reasons why it upheld Udom’s election today, the APC raised some posers, which it claimed point to the possibilities that the verdict could have been influenced.

    Emmanuel was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while the APC presented Obong Umana Okon Umana as its candidate.

    The Chairman of the party, Dr. Amadu Attai, in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said the criticisms and condemnations that trailed the judgment by lawyers, laymen and political analysts, “pointed to such compromising and questionable circumstances and context surrounding the ruling that should not be swept under the carpet.”

    Attai, while noting that certain events that happened before, during and after the judgment suggest that some powerful  forces in the state had foreknowledge of the outcome of the judgment, stated that such issues continue to generate negative reactions “about the integrity of the apex court and the sanctity of its judgments.”

    He said: “In the light of the foregoing, the confidence of Nigerians in the Supreme Court has been badly eroded. This is reflected in the spate of attacks on Supreme Court judgments. Such dangerous lack of confidence in the sanctity of judgments by the Supreme Court and in its integrity could force Nigerians to resort to self-help, particularly as the mass killings in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states during the elections have been swept under the carpet by the Supreme Court judgments.

    “Another danger lurking in these judgments is that they constitute precedents for future adjudication of election cases, in which case the judgments might be seen as the legitimisation of electoral violence..”

    He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to stem what he called the decay in the judiciary, which is expected to be the bastion of justice, adding that “the leadership of the country and indeed Nigerians should not sit and watch the Judiciary collapse.

    ‘’We call on the President to arrest the drift in the third arm of government by probing the rot in the Supreme Court.’’

  • 59- year-old land dispute claims over 10 lives, 100 houses in Akwa Ibom

    59- year-old land dispute claims over 10 lives, 100 houses in Akwa Ibom

    •Community begs Emmanuel to intervene

    A community in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State is on the edge as another farming season looms – no thanks to a 59-year-old land dispute which has resulted in the death of over 10 people and the destruction of 100 houses.

    The people have cried out to Governor Udom Emmanuel to save their souls. Things are not good between the people of Ekimbok community of Ibiono Ibom and their neighbours, Ikot Mbuk Idoro village, also in Ibiono Ibom Local Government.

    •Another house affected by the crisis
    •Another house affected by the crisis

    The most recent attack, which occurred last year, affected 1,278 people from Ekimbok. It affected  267 men, 385 women and 626 children with most of them stilled displaced and taking refuge in neighbouring villages.

    The spokesman of  Ekimbok village,  Mr Emmanuel Jacob Akra, said his village and Ikot Mbuk Idoro were living peacefully, inter -marrying, sharing in each other’s festivals and having a lot in common until 1957 a land dispute broke out. Akra said the Ikot Mbuk Idoro people questioned the traditional land boundaries that had existed between the two communities and felt offended in the development projects embarked upon by the Ekimbok village, which had established a palm plantation which was subsidised by the Eastern Region Government in 1956.

    “Trusting in their numerical strength, Ikot Mbuk Idoro village filed a suit No. C/55/57 at the Ono Customary Court against Ekimbok Village in 1957 claiming the four parcels of  land namely: Edeng,Ndon Ete mi, Nsaoso and Ikot Andem, all situating at Ekimbok,” he said.

    Akra said the Customary Court delivered judgment in their (Ekimbok) favour but the other party was not satisfied. “

    Ikot Mbuk  Idoro appealed against the judgment to the Magistrate Court in 1972, but failed. They appealed again to the High Court in Uyo in  1976 and finally appealed to the Court of Appeal in Enugu in 1982. In all, judgments were delivered in favour of Ekimbok village.

    The Ekimbok people said, after losing in all  the courts cases they brought against them which lasted 25 years, between 1957 and 1982, the Ikot Mbuk Idoro people now resorted to hostilities against the Ekimbok Village.

    “Ikot Mbuk Idoro Village joined by 24 other Villages of the Idoro Clan resorted to very serious hostilities on us ( Ekimbok Village),” Akra explained as he presented documents to back up his claims.

    The Ekimbok people said they are tired.

    The Ekimbok spokesman, who was a former Village Council Chairman, said the first war between their village and Ikot Mbuk Idoro supported by the other 24 group of villages of Idoro people, broke out in December 1986 when their people were ambushed by the Ikot Mbuk and their other 24 Idoro group of villages when their ( Ekimbok) people went to a section of the land which is part of the land judgment was  given in their favour.

    He said: “ On July 24, 1987, Idoro people and their supporters invaded Ekimbok again, terrorised the people taken unawares, killed many people, wounded many, burnt down several houses, destroyed property and farm lands with crops and looted a lot of our property and chased the unarmed people of Ekimbok out of their village and occupied it for three days.

    Another member of the Village Council, Mr Edet Udoakpan,  urged the government to implement the recommendations of the White Paper which was submitted in 1995.

    “ Please implement the white paper recommendations, pays us compensation and take over the whole disputed land for state purpose. It is better than for the land to remain and these Idoro people  and their fighters destroy all our people,” they pleaded.

    Sources close to the Ikot Mbuk Idoro people faulted the accounts of the Ekimbok people.  They said there was no iota of truth in the claim that they were behind arsons and murder. They promise to thoroughly respond to the issues raised by the Ekimbok people soon.