The security infraction in Ukanafun local government area of Akwa Ibom State is not yet over as unidentified gunmen, Tuesday, kidnapped an official of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), serving in Ukanafun local government area.
The victim, Otobong Sylvester Ukpong, hails from Iwukem village in Etim Ekpo local government area of the state.
Ukpong was said to be going to office at Ikot Akpa Nkuk, headquarters of Ukanafun when the gunmen stopped and abducted him near Government Primary School, Uruk Ata 2, along Ukanafun-Azumini expressway.
According to a distraught brother of the victim, Mbetobong Sylvester Ukpong, “My brother was kidnapped at Uruk Ata 2, in the morning hours of Tuesday, June 5, 2018, on his way to work in his office at Ukanafun local government area office of INEC.”
He said the hoodlums blocked him at the volatile area of Uruk Ata 2, where militants have been laying siege, kidnapping four church elders, burning houses and killing four others in the recent times.
Mbetobong explained that his brother, whom he explained, “is the last born of the family,” was on a major mission to the office, despite crisis of insecurity in the area, to distribute Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) to the electorates in line with the directive of the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Mike Igini.
He said the militants have opened contact with the family, demanding N10 million, even as the family leaders lamented that the excruciating economic situation has made such demand less realistic.
“They used my brother’s phone number to call the family to disclose their ransom before they release him, but the elders of the family have told them such demand is outrageous for a largely peasant family to pay,” he said.
When our reporter contacted Mr. Samuel Ogunjemilusi, the Commissioner of Police (CP), he could only reply with hush tone; “I am in a meeting.”
DSP Odiko Macdon Ogbeche, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), said he was yet to be briefed by the Etim Ekpo Area Command, adding that the CP had visited the area following a series of killing and abduction of two female students of Obong University, a private varsity in the area last week.
In another development, security operatives in Ukanafun, Tuesday, apprehended nine suspected cultists in Ikot Enang said to be allegedly terrorising the people and perpetrating criminal activities in the area and its environs.
A source from the security mine said they were picked in their hide-out in the village and the security operatives were on a man-hunt for more hoodlums said to be hiding in other villages.
The source hinted Straightnews that the suspected criminals are in the habit of administering oath to some village heads and persons in the area to shield their identity and this has helped to compound the security situation in Ukanafun.
Already, Ikot Akpa Nkuk, the headquarters of Ukanafun looks like a besieged war front as most private businesses even the council’s headquarters are deserted.
An eye witness account stated that in more than 10 minutes no fewer than three vehicles will ply the once-busy Ikot Ubo-Ekparakwa-Ukanafun-Iwukem-Aba Federal Highway due to the increasing criminal activities along the highway.
