WHY is the Akwa-Ibom State Government observably indifferent in
bringing to book the armed youths, who in August 2008, invaded the
peaceful Ikot-Akpan Udo community, Ukpum Ette clan, Ikot –Abasi Local
Government Area of the state, killing 13 persons and razing over 500
houses despite the cries of the people for justice in the last eight
years? The lethargy of state government, which in November 2008, set up a
Commission of Inquiry that did not submit its Report on the incident
until 2014 because of sharp disagreements among the members, also
emboldened the attackers, July 12, 2015, to storm the village again,
and abduct and murder 32-year-old Joel Sunday.
Only last Tuesday, more than a year after the submission of the
Commission of Inquiry report without a white paper from government,
gunmen suspected to be from Amazaba community in Eastern Obolo Local
Government Area of the state struck yet again, razing over 20 houses and
rendering hundreds of persons injured. As at yesterday, the village
head, Ete-Idung Oscar Abel is still missing seven days after the attack.
The invaders burnt about 15 motorcycles and a Jetta Saloon car during
the surprise attack at about 2.00 am.
The Peace/Reconciliation and Boundary Delineation Committees, headed
by Chief Effiong Eneyo and Surveyor Okokon Esien respectively, also set
up by the state government did not make headway. On its part, the police
since 2008 usually arrive at the scene of incident only after the
attackers had perpetrated havoc and disappeared. The same scenario
repeated itself, last Tuesday.
Investigations by Niger Delta Voice shows that the dispute
between the two communities is essentially over land ownership. The
boundary demarcation committee raised by the state government apparently
found it difficult to do its work before of the claims and
counter-claims and leaving the matter unresolved for several years has
worsened the crisis. Some government officials have perceived interests
in the matter and this has made it difficult to get an enduring solution
to the crisis.
Our ordeal — Akpan Udo youth leader
Youth leader of Ikot Akpan Udo, Mr. Abasi-Okon Etukudoh Etukudoh, who
spoke on behalf of the community, said with tears rolling down his
cheeks that the invasion of his community by the Amazaba people was
becoming a recurrent thing without counter attacks by his people. “One
of the first houses attacked and burnt is that of the village head,
Ete-Iding Oscar Abel. They burnt all his property, clothes, certificates
and other valuable documents of the community and domestic animals as
you can see.
“Although he escaped with only the loin cloth he tied on his waist to
go to bed, his whereabouts are still unknown till this moment,”
Etukudoh narrated. He lamented that the latest attack came after they
managed to erect new structures to shelter their families in place of
the houses razed in previous incidents by Amazaba youths.
Blames govt
The youth leader blamed the Akwa-Ibom state government for the
various attacks and the refugee situation they have been subjected to,
saying it has not done anything tangible to bring their assailants to
book or to ameliorate their plight. “The delay or refusal by the
government to act swiftly and bring the perpetrators of these injurious
attacks to book is what has given them the impetus to keep coming around
to attack us.
“If the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the Akwa-Ibom State
government in 2008 had done a thorough job, the culprits arrested and
made to face the wrath of the law, the people would not have continued
to take the laws into their hands,” he said. He further said: “Aside
from the Commission of Inquiry, government had in 2012, set up a Peace
and Reconciliatory Committee to reconcile us only for the committee to
compromise its assignment and government was also afraid to query those
members.”
Also speaking, a widow, Mrs. Obot Titus, who attackers also burnt her
house, lamented that since her husband’s demise a few years ago, she
had to shoulder the responsibility of the family alone, including
erecting the burnt structure. She wondered where she would raise funds
again to provide shelter for her children, especially as they burnt her
motor cycle, used to provide income for the family.
Our case, by Amazaba elder
A leader of Amazaba community, who gave his name simply as Elder
Francis, also blamed the Akwa-Ibom State government for the crisis,
adding that if government had demarcated the boundary between Amazaba
and Ikot-Akpan Udo, the problem would not have escalated. He also
accused government of failing to check alleged trespassing and erroneous
claims of Ikot Akpan Udo of being the owners of the land occupied by
the Amazaba people.
“What government still needs to do is to demarcate the boundary
between us so that Ikot Akpan Udo will not continue to claim that they
own everywhere. “We are the original owners of the land having migrated
from Andoni to occupy where we are now up to Ukpum Ete since in the 13th
century. This was before the people of Ikot-Ikot Akpan Udo came but
because we are mostly fishermen, we do not care much about land, they
kept trespassing into our land and making claims of them,” he said.
Way out
Continuing: Elder Francis said: “That is why we are revolting and we
will continue to do it until government takes appropriate action, not by
using military force but by demarcating our boundaries. “Once that is
done, there will be peace, but if government does any mistake of
bringing soldiers to come and confront us, government would be wasting
its time and resources because our people will capture the soldiers and
make mincemeat of them.”
Ikot Akpan Udo community, which maintained its ownership of the land,
however, said some officials of the state government were forcing it to
accept a politically induced peace. The community said it would not
accept a contrived deal for Amazaba Andonis who slaughtered over 14 of
her citizens and burnt their homestead.The people demanded that
government should relocate Amazaba Andonis from Ikot Akpan Udo mainland
to Otunene and Ememen, which lie opposite their kith and kin at Emereoke
islands.
The community said that any boundary delineation between Ikot Abasi
and Eastern Obolo local government areas not based on the Akpan Udo
River, which rises at Ikot Ekpang in Mkpat Enin local government area of
the state and empties into the Atlantic Ocean would never be acceptable
to the people.
Govt meets community leaders on Monday
Efforts by Niger Delta Voice to get the state government to
react to the allegation of nonchalance against it by both communities
were not successful, but it proposed a meeting with the elders and
chieftains of the two towns, last Friday, January 15, which was later
shifted to Monday, January 18. At the weekend when our reporter visited
Ikot Akpan Udo, there was a heavy security presence at all the police
divisions from Ikot-Abasi, Mkpat Enin, Eket, Esit Eket, Onna and Ibeno
areas.
We’ve taken charge — Police
The squad leader from the Ikot-Abasi Police Division, ASP Omini
Mathias, who spoke to NDV, said they alerted the police at about 2.00
am, last Tuesday, and they responded, but before they could get to
Ikot-Akpan Udo, the hoodlums had completed their heinous acts and
disappeared. He said the police and other security outfits were
currently on top of the matter to bring the perpetrators to book and
possibly end the age-long skirmish.
Akwa-Ibom State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Delia Nwawe,
corroborated ASP Mathias, saying, “the Nigeria Police is for safety of
lives and property of citizens. We give priority to these obligations,
which is why the Nigeria Police, Akwa-Ibom State Command, under CP
Murtala Mani, has deployed SAS, Anti-Robbery Squad and as a matter of
fact Police Mobile Force, PMF, to that community. “If you go back to
Ikot Akpan Udo now, you will see that normalcy has returned there;
people are going about with their lawful and legitimate businesses.
According to the PPRO, the command has reached out to the Akwa-Ibom
State government on the need for the two warring communities to come
together and dialogue in order for them to have peace. “Peace is of
utmost importance for us if we must make reasonable progress.
Interestingly, nobody has died in the crisis, which is why it is
possible for us to tell the people to sheath the sword, come together,
have dialogue and live together. And tomorrow, we are going to have a
meeting with the two warring communities for possible dialogue between
them,” she assured.
On the arrests so far made by the police in connection with the
latest invasion, she said: “For now, I will not be able to tell you the
number of arrests that have been made, but all I can say is that we have
taken charge. We want these two warring communities to go back and live
as a family because they have actually been living as a family. Right
now, we have taking charge of that particular environment and I like to
state clearly that people must learn to live together.”
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