1 Policeman dead as JTF rescues kidnapped INEC official, 8 others in A’Ibom
One police sergeant has been confirmed dead in Akwa Ibom during operation to rid Etim Ekpo and Ukanafun council areas of militants who are causing deaths and destruction of properties worth millions of Naira for over a year now.
The state commissioner of police, Mr. Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi who disclosed this in a press conference at the weekend said “We lost one Sergeant in the operation and recovered some riffles including Police and Military uniforms, charms and other materials”.
He said the police action became necessary following the refusal of the hoodlums to heed the offer of amnesty extended to them by Governor Udom Emmanuel.
Ogunjemilusi disclosed that the police rescued one Otobong Sylvester Ukpong, a staff of the Ukanafun area office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), along with eight others including seven women seized at Ikot Inyang Abia community in Ukanafun by the hoodlums.
The rescued INEC staff seized on June 5 said he was blindfolded and taken by two gunmen on motorbikes into an untended bush in Ikot Akpan Ayara in Ukanafun Local Government where he was fed only once a day with garri and soup, beans and rice.
“There is no farming activity around the bush that we were kept and they (the criminals) erected a canopy in the bush and always cooked the meal there and served us.
Throughout my stay there for about two months, I was not allowed to talk to anyone and that is why I find it difficult to talk because my throat is not clear.
“They only removed the veils from our eyes in the night where you cannot understand the geography of the area. I have not taken my bath, nor shave or trim my hair since I was taken and this is the only cloth that I put since I was captured.
“Each time the kidnappers left for operation, they would ensure two heavily armed men were left to guard the den, but on the day, Saturday, August 18, when the JFT stormed the place, the one that guarded the camp got the signal and went to see what was coming.
“The Soldier fired first and killed him, before he could rearrange himself, (the militants went flat on the ground, consulted his charms and amulet and disappeared before the JTF came to rescue us”, he said.
The Chairman of Ukanafun Local Government, Mr. Uko Idiong and his Etim Ekpo counterpart, Mr. Udeme Eduo, who were on hand to identify the freed captives, commended the gallantry of the JTF operatives in their efforts to restore peace to their troubled council areas.
Idiong, said the seven rescued women were all seized from his village, Ikot Inyang Abia, by the gang leader simply identified by his operational name, ‘Englishman’.
