Ex -militants invade A’Ibom LG secretariat, sack workers over amnesty deal

Hundreds of angry former militants who surrendered their arms to government two weeks ago regrouped and barricaded the entrance of Etim Ekpo council headquarters at Utu on Wednesday and chased out the chairman, Mr. Udeme Eduo, while council workers scampered for safety.

The militants, who invaded the council premises in the early hours of Wednesday, accused government of breaching terms of conditions in the amnesty deal brokered by government.

The protest, which lasted for several hours, crippled activities even as our correspondent learnt that the rampage was carried out by members of Iceland and Debam cult groups.

Government’s amnesty to the militants was informed by the killings, kidnappings and armed robbery in the parts of Etim Ekpo in which over 200 persons were killed and over 2,000 displaced.

Armed with a placard with the inscription, “Give us our rights”, one of the ex-militants, who would not want his name in print, told reporters that “we have been deceived by government to come out of the bush and drop our weapons but what was promised has not been implemented”.

The ex-militant, who said he was of the Debam group, explained that the “the initial empowerment fund given to us by the government was not properly shared to the families by the Council Chairman, Hon. Udeme Wilson Eduo”.

He recalled that “two weeks ago, we were asked to assemble at the Qua Iboe Church (QIC) primary school at Uruk Ata 2. When the Chairman arrived, he expressed happiness that we obeyed the government and embraced the deal for peace to return to our communities.

“However, what the Chairman did was to short-change our group and gave N1million to the Icelanders and gave a paltry N150,000 to our group with a promise of other things like vocational jobs and other empowerment funds”, he explained and called on Governor Udom Emmanuel to correct the anomaly for sustainable peace in the communities”.

Though the Chairman could not respond to calls sent to him for his position on the matter, one of his aides who would not want his name mentioned, simply said that, “the Chairman is in a meeting with security agencies”.

However, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Odiko Macdon, who confirmed the incident, said Police were on hand to ensure the protest did not degenerate into fight, saying “the matter has been resolved”.

He assured that the new Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Command, Mr. John Bassey Abang, was fully committed to ensuring lasting peace returns to the troubled areas and the state in general.