The people of Usung Atiat in Ukanafun Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State are angry, following the arrest of Elder Emmanuel Okon, a relative of the late Aniefiok Daniel Bassey whose corpse was exhumed a fortnight ago on the orders of the village council chairman.
The embattled Village Council Chairman, Mr. Aniedu Thompson, it was alleged, lodged complaint against Emmanuel Okon and he was arrested by officers of the Nigeria Police from the Zonal Command in Calabar, Cross River State.
This came after the Village Council Chairman who was arrested following a petition by the family of the deceased was freed by the police in Akwa Ibom State Police Command.
The controversial exhumation was alleged to have carried out by the Village Council Chairman after the deceased family failed to provide some items before his burial.
Thompson demanded the followings: a she-goat, 5 tubers of yam, a jar of palm wine, 1 crate of mineral, 1 carton of beer, 1 bottle of kai-kai (local gin), 1 bottle of Lords Dry Gin, garden egg, tobacco, ntuen ibok (alligator pepper), condiments and firewood.
These, according to him, were to atone for an unspecified offence committed by the deceased. Upon request, neither the family nor this reporter was told the nature of the alleged offence.
According to family source, police from the State Command had visited the crime scene and taken the exhumed corpse to mortuary before they arrested the prime suspect- the Village Council Chairman, Aniedu Thompson.
Mr. Thompson was later released on bail by police, having signed that he will return to the station with other suspects who were on the run.
Thompson, however, abandoned the case in Uyo and fled to Calabar with his Secretary, Ikobong John, who was at large, to lodge complaints.
The case file has now been transferred from the Akwa Ibom State Police Command to the zonal command.
Members of the deceased family are now being hunted by officers of the zonal command.
Over the weekend, the village council chairman reportedly trailed Elder Okon with his motorcycle, knocked and injured him, minutes before the police officers from the zonal command arrested Emmanuel Okon and whisked him away to Calabar for interrogation.
Meanwhile, three family heads in the village have inaugurated a new village council and warned the embattled Aniedu Thompson to stop parading himself as chairman, or face legal consequences.
The family heads are Elder Emmanuel Okon, family head, Nto Akpan Itor; Chief Tommy James Etukudo, family head, Nto Awong; Elder Iboro Isaac Akpan, family head, Nto Afia; and Mr. Aniekan Monday Okon as the youth leader.
They said their action was informed by Thompson’s involvement in exhuming the corpse, misappropriation of funds, failure to constitute village council and incessant arrest of family heads and youths.
Ofonime Honesty reported
