Following violent fights among factional revenue collectors, tension has spread throughout the Ukam community in Akwa Ibom’s Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
The skirmishes claimed the life of one Samuel Monday Toby and injured hundreds more, according to reports released on Tuesday.
Armed policemen, intervening to restore quiet, have laid siege to the community, seeking for the criminals, including one Akanimo Bob, a Personal Assistant (PA) to Governor Umo Eno, posted to the LGA to ensure peace following the confrontation of two revenue parties at Ikot Akpa Bong market.
Checks revealed that the trouble started at the Ikot Akpa Bond market when the Local Government Transition Chairman, Mrs. Mercy Bassey, dissolved the former Revenue Committee in the area without consulting the host communities claiming the markets in the area.
An eyewitness, Utibe Udo Odiong, recalled that the late Toby was ambushed and killed on Ikot Akpa Bong market day when his assailants, in a mob action, attacked him, causing him to die instantly on the spot while traders scattered for safety.
“Since the incident, the Transition Chairman, Mrs. Mercy Bassey, ordered the Police to cordon-off all the local markets during market days to prevent further attacks,” he explained.
In an open letter titled “Save My Soul,” addressed to Governor Eno and made available to newsmen in Uyo, the embattled governor’s aide, whose home was being monitored by the police at the time of filing this report, appealed for the Governor’s quick intervention to forestall further skirmishes and deaths.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Odiko MacDon, said calm has been restored by tactical Police operatives dispatched to the troubled area by the Commissioner of Police (CP) Olatoye Durosinmi.
He added that the Village Head and some of the suspected hoodlums involved in the crisis have been arrested, while “discreet investigations continue.”
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