Chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Akwa Ibom State have written to the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, alleging a plot by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, the Minister of Petroleum (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, and the state chairman of the party, Mr. Stephen Ntukekpo, to cede the party to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Governor Umo Eno in the state.

In an open letter tagged “The Worrisome State of the APC in Akwa Ibom State: A Call for Your Urgent Intervention,” signed by Elder Okokon James, Hon. Peter Ibanga, and Chief Victor Affiah, representing Uyo, Eket, and Ikot Ekpene senatorial districts of the state on Monday, the elders urged the President to intervene and ensure that the party is resuscitated in Akwa Ibom.

The elders noted that they have been in the party from inception and had never seen the “kind of selfishness, greed, betrayal, and treachery” currently going on in the party in Akwa Ibom.

The letter, in part, states: “What the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, is doing to the teeming and die-hard members of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State is the height of betrayal of confidence and treachery against the party on whose platform he became the Senate President. History and posterity will not be kind to him and all those he is using as instruments to kill the party.”

They noted that both the party chairman and the minister had, in different fora, said they were directed by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to cripple the party in the state to give the PDP an easy ride to victory in the 2027 polls in exchange for the PDP’s support for the Senate President’s third-term ambition.

They regretted that Senator Akpabio had failed to see clearly that Umo Eno would never defect to APC or be committed to President Tinubu’s second-term ambition.

They added: “We want to assure Mr. President that he won’t have party members to receive him when he comes to the state next year to campaign if something urgent is not done to revive and strengthen the party in the state.

“The soul and spirit of the party in the state have been sold to the PDP government, and as a result, party members are gearing up to join the upcoming coalition of opposition to your second-term ambition.”

The APC chieftains expressed reservations that a party that produced the Senate President and a minister is now dead in their state, reminding the President that if nothing is done urgently, it would be impossible to mobilize party members for him during the 2027 elections in the state.

“Should members of the party in the state move en masse to the upcoming coalition of opposition elements opposed to your second-term ambition, hold the Senate President and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, responsible.

“The Senate President cannot cough because he has so weakened the APC structure in the state that he is afraid his re-election bid in 2027 may be a mirage without the support of the governor and PDP structures,” the letter added.

Hundreds of people of Azumini Ndoki, Ukwa East local government area, Abia State have protested peacefully against alleged territorial encroachment by the Akwa Ibom State government.

The protesters, displaying placards with various inscriptions, accused the Akwa Ibom State government of extending a road project into the community based on a verbal approval by the Abia State government.

They lamented that to the best of their knowledge, there is no formal agreement or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Abia and Akwa Ibom State governments on the project.

Speaking to LEADERSHIP, some of the community leaders, including Ogbo Ubani, pointed out the need for proper documentation of the project to avoid future boundary disputes between the states.

Ubani said the people are apprehensive about the project because of boundary disputes they are at present having with their neighbours in Akwa Ibom State “and don’t want to add another one to them”.

Contributing, the president, Azumini Welfare Association, Azubuike Nwankwo, noted that the people insisted on such agreement not verbal “which could be denied any moment”.

Nwankwo maintained, “With no such agreement or a MoU, we’re worried that we may wake up one day to find that we have been ceded to Akwa Ibom State by our own state government.”

In a reaction, the secretary of the community’s interim administrative committee, Fidelis Nnah, faulted a reported payment of compensation by the Akwa Ibom State government to owners of properties along the road.

The legal practitioner, therefore, questioned the rationale behind Akwa-Ibom State government revoking properties in Abia State territory and paying compensation for them.

“Such payment, in fact” according  to the secretary, “should be the sole responsibility of the Abia State government where Azumini belongs not Akwa-Ibom State at all.”

Addressing the protesters, the mayor of the area, Chibunna Akara urged them to remain calm and peaceful, and not to take laws into their hands to express their grievances.

Represented by the secretary to the council, Iheanyi Adindu, he assured them that their message would be conveyed to the Abia State government for amicable resolution of the matter.

Rampaging youths protesting incessant harassments and extortions by military personnel have reportedly razed five military vehicles in angry reprisal following the gruesome murder of a youth activist by a soldier in Akwa Ibom State.

The incident, LEADERSHIP learnt, happened in the early hours of Wednesday in Ete, a coastal oil-bearing community of Ikot Abasi local government area of the State.

According to a resident, Effiong Ekwere, the soldiers attached to Sterling Global, an oil firm, were chasing a diesel-bearing truck allegedly for extortion, an action that infuriated the angry youths, who engaged one of them in a duel with the intent to disarm him.

The officer was said to have shot at the victim to scare and free himself from the mob, resulting in his instant death, thereby escalating the violence.

The Ete, Ikot Abasi portion of the East-West Road, sources said, was blocked for several hours, forcing vehicles and passengers coming into and out of Akwa Ibom State to and fro the neighbouring Rivers State, to be stranded.

“There’s crisis in Ete in Ikot Abasi LGA, an Army man that was on official duty at the Sterling Global company shot one of the community boys dead today, and they had shot another person dead as at last week.

“As a result of that, the community has now risen to tell them that enough is enough. That they should concentrate on doing their official duty at the company and leave the innocent citizens to be.

“For this, and other atrocious behaviours of the Army in the community, the youths set five of their trucks ablaze, including one bus and a Hilux van. Please, we are waiting for peace talk and government intervention on the issue,” the resident told our Correspondent.

Military sources from the 2 Brigade headquarters, Uyo, confirmed the incident, saying “the matter is already under control.”

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Timfon John, also confirmed the development, saying the officer had been hospitalised and the remains of the victim deposited in the morgue, as investigations continued.

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno has set agenda for the newly inaugurated 27-member State Executive Council (SEC) on the essence of delivering dividends of democracy to the people.

The newly inaugurated state executive council comprise 25 commissioners and two special advisers.

Governor therefore warned against complacency and sabotage of government policies and programmes as encapsulated in the ARISE Agenda blueprint of his administration.

The Governor, according to the new Commissioner of Information, Elder Aniekan Umanah, stated this at the maiden SEC meeting held at the Exco Chambers of the Government House in Uyo, the state capital.

Briefing Journalists at the end of the meeting, Elder Umanah reeled out some key resolutions taken at the meeting to include renaming of the Ministry of Economic Development, to Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

This came with a directive to post an additional Permanent Secretary to the ministry, with one over-sighting general duties and the other, budget.

Umanah said this is to help in aligning budgeting and planning within one warehouse to ensure effective development of the state.

He added that the council also resolved to review the 35 new projects the Governor has earmarked to be flagged off before May 29, 2025.

The meeting also considered “Appointment of Delivery Advisors to each of the projects to align the conceptualisation to actualisation, as well as create needed synergy for the flow of the projects through the various timelines.

“Council took note of the proposed March date to flag off the proposed Maritime corridor in Oron, which will include the shore protection project, construction of jetties, ferry terminal, warehouse development, industrial cold room and recreational facilities to help those doing business around the Maritime ecosystem.”

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno has restated the administration’s commitment to ensuring that the state remains Nigeria’s cleanest state, while also sustaining the pursuit of making it the nation’s premier tourism destination.

The Governor who was monitoring the February edition of the State’s monthly environmental sanitation exercise at some locations in Uyo, the state capital, expressed satisfaction with the compliance of citizens and the extent to which the exercise has yielded positive results.

Speaking at the Itam Junction flyover, Governor Eno lauded the clean and hospitable disposition of the Akwa Ibom people which, according to him, has accounted for its Cleanliness Performance Index (CPI) award as Nigeria’s cleanest state for six consecutive years.

“If you know anything about an Akwa Ibom person, you can tell that we are clean people. I believe we should continue to maintain that.

“Akwa Ibom has been declared the cleanest state in this nation up to six times. So we must continue to maintain that status,” he said.

Commending the facelift given to the Itam Flyover by the colourful artistic decoration, the Governor commended the Anietie Eka – led Uyo Capital City Development Authority (UCCDA), and charging that the aesthetics be maintained, saying it depicts Akwa Ibom’s rich cultural heritage.

“I am very proud of what I have seen here. Akwa Ibom is growing rapidly towards becoming the numero uno tourism destination of Nigeria, and I am sure by the grace of God, that we would get there.

“These designs depict our culture, our people and who we are. I am only asking that we should maintain it, and not allow hoodlums to take over these places. We should not allow these things to be vandalised,” the governor charged.

Meanwhile, no fewer than 158 persons were arrested across the state for flouting the February edition of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise.

Despite the high level of compliance recorded across the state, some residents were caught violating the environmental laws and were apprehended by the task force teams deployed to various locations.

The offenders were immediately arraigned before the Environmental Sanitation Court in Uyo, the state capital.

The Presiding Judge, Senior Magistrate Amanda Effiom, charged the accused with failing to participate in the monthly sanitation, a violation punishable under Section 39 of the Akwa Ibom State Public Health Law.

However, a mild drama played out in court when some defaulters from other ethnic groups feigned ignorance of the English language in an attempt to stall proceedings, prompting the court to engage an interpreter for translation.

In her ruling, the senior magistrate handed down various penalties, including community service within the court premises and on major roads in Uyo, ranging from three to five days to the offenders, while others were given the option of fines of between N3,000 and N12,000.

The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has charged four suspects to court for obstructing a public highway on Monday.

This follows an earlier warning by the command that it will not tolerate any individual or group taking the law into their own hands by obstructing highways.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Timfon John, disclosed this in a press statement made available to The TheNigerian on Wednesday.

John stated that the incident occurred at about 21:00 hours when a truck driver, employed by Sterling Global Construction Company, recklessly hit a tricycle carrying passengers, causing damage to the vehicle and injuring its occupants.

She added that, in an attempt to prevent the driver from fleeing, four other truck drivers mobilised and deliberately blocked the public highway,
disrupting traffic.

“The four trucks were impounded at the station, and four suspects were
arrested, investigated, and charged to court accordingly,” she stated.

Timfon noted that police officers made frantic efforts to de-escalate the situation and restore normalcy but were resisted by the truck drivers.

According to the PPRO, the command will not tolerate any act of lawlessness or obstruction of public highways, warning that those involved will face the full weight of the law.

“The Command, under the leadership of CP Baba Mohammed Azare, remains steadfast in ensuring law and order across the state. We urge all road users and members of the public to conduct themselves responsibly and cooperate with the police in fostering a safe and orderly society,” she added.

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A suspect accused of dispossessing unsuspecting victims of personal effects, especially mobile phones was on Tuesday set ablaze by the residents of Obio Offot in Uyo local government area of Akwa Ibom state.

Local vigilantes also apprehended another petty thief at about 11am after snatching a phone and fled into a ravine bordering Eka Street and the adjoining Asutan Street, also in Uyo, the state capital.

The suspect was reportedly dragged to one secluded compound by Ebong Street where he was about to be lynched, but for a quick intervention by an armed policeman who rescued him from the mob and took him to the nearby ‘A’ Division Police station in Uyo.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the unlucky suspect was set ablaze at Obio Offot Community along Abak Road after stealing removing unspecified phones of members of the Island of Pamus Church, while members were fast asleep, and waiting for the early morning prayer and worship session.

“I don’t really know what happened that all of us were still fast asleep at the time the thief stole late night into the Church and removed all the worshipers’ phones.

“We only took a nap, so we can wake around 4am for the early morning prayer and worship session. To our surprise, when we woke up to prepare for the service, behold, we were amazed that we could not find our phones.

“When the Pastor came and heard our lamentations, he mounted the pulpit and took our cry to God, that we cannot be in His (God’s) house and something so sad like this happened. He vowed that God would not allow the thief to survive the next couple of hours,” one of the worshippers who identified herself as Aniebiet, recalled.

Our Correspondent gathered that the thief, said to have been terrorising the Obio Offot community and its environs was caught about an hour later while trying to also steal at the neighbouring Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, as worshippers raised the alarm.

The locals, who had been on the manhunt for some time, following incessant cases of thefts, rose up, apprehended and later set the unnamed suspect ablaze after binding his hands behind his back.

However, the state Police Command has condemned extrajudicial killings of criminal suspects.

Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Baba Azare, through the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Timfon John maintained that the police has zero tolerance for crimes of any sort and warned that jungle justice has no place in the constitution.

She explained that members of the civil society have the right to apprehend criminal elements, but must hand the suspects over to the Police for diligent prosecution to avoid extrajudicial killing of innocent persons.