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In Nigeria, virtually all the sub – nationals across the six geo – political zones face security challenges as a stubborn stigma that won’t go away despite stiff resistance.
And the oil – rich Niger Delta State of Akwa Ibom is not left out, as crimes including armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, murder and children trafficking fueled by cultism and drug abuse, thrive with reckless abandon, putting security agencies on the all – time alert.
The new commissioner of Police in the state (CP), Waheed Ayilara, since his assumption in the State a couple of months ago, has vowed to defeat the hoodlums by taking the battle to their den.
Since his arrival, several armed robbery syndicates, kidnapping rings and cyber criminal gangs have been smashed with some leaders either arrested or neutralised.
One of such feats, LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered, is the recent raid by Police operatives of Ekeya, a sub – urban community in Okobo local government area which led to the shocking discovery of cache of assorted arms stored with dead bodies in a private mortuary.
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The CP said it was based on superior intelligence that the tactical operatives of the State Police Command stormed the morgue and smashed a gun – running and terrorism syndicate, who turned the facility to serve dual purposes of holding dead remains of people for their owners, and as amoury for preserving offensive weapons for criminals.
Although the ring leader, identified as one Ubong Effiong Archibong, a.k.a ‘Condiment’, according to the CP, “escaped by the whiskers”, the amory – tender, one James Bassey, who claimed also to be the mortuary owner, was arrested.
“Through credible information and a painstaking investigation, our operatives have recovered firearms and ammunition used by a notorious kidnapping syndicate led by a wanted kidnapper, one Ubong Effiong Archibong a.k.a Condiment.
“The kidnapping syndicate is responsible for the kidnapping and killing of several persons, our operatives are on him and before long, he will be arrested and brought to justice,” the CP assured.
He listed some of the firearms recovered to include two AK-47 Rifles, two G -3 Rifles, one double barrel rifle, one single barrel rifle, five magazines and seven life ammunition.
Heaving sighs of relief, the local residents, though admitted to incidences of freequent security breaches by armed hoodlums – militants and sea pirates, remain shell – shocked over the discovery of arms cache stored with dead bodies in their local mortuary.
However, the arrested mortuary owner preserving the arms alongside dead bodies, exuding innocence, recalled that the youths group in the village had intercepted some militants and sea pirates and seized the arms cache from criminals.
He said he vigilante group were on night guard when militants and sea pirates tried to transit through Ekeya community to coastal areas.
“The community youths watching over the community apprehended criminals at night and seized the rifles from them.
“After the incident, the youths President handed over the arms and ammunition to me for safe keeping pending when they will come for us to take the matter to the Police,” he narrated.
He claimed that the offensive weapons were in his care for over a month, while waiting for the youths’ leaders for further action before the Police stormed the place and recovered the weapons.
“I am the owner of the mortuary, and I left over 20 dead bodies yet to be claimed for burial by their owners when I was arrested,” he maintained.
Some shocked residents of the deserted community, fearful of mass arrest of innocent people as the real culprits have fled, recalled suspicious characters always milling around the mortuary location, mostly at night.
Ubong Edet, a commercial motorcyclist, expressed shock that arms deal could go on side by side with the legitimate business of preserving corpses in an isolated community, noting that “some times strange vehicles could be seen going in and coming out of the place without bringing in or taking out dead bodies.”
LEADERSHIP Weekend’s
investigation revealed that the morgue established years ago, was purpose – built as a decoy to hoodwink the local residents and security agencies from straying their prying eyes beyond the legitimate business of keeping and preserving corpses for a fee, while the main trade of arms deal flourish in the late night hours.
It could be noted that Okobo, is one of the five local government areas in the coastal plains of Oron territory, located within the precinct of the Gulf of Guinea, with the longest shoreline stretching into the Atlantic.
From the Ibaka Beach, travellers going to Cameroun, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and other countries within the Gulf of Guinea, board their boats in their risky journey for businesses in the Central African countries amid activities of kidnapping, killings, seizure of outboard engines and boats by militants and sea pirates.
“So, with these high rate of maritime crimes, small arms and light weapons flourish with reckless abandon within the coastal territories with prominent politicians kidnapped and taken to neighbouring coastal States like Rivers, Bayelsa, Ondo and Delta States, from where they negotiate for ransom,” Effiong Inim, a fisherman at the Ibaka Beach in Mbo LGA, lamented.
“We have had several high profile kidnapping cases across the five coastal LGAs here including Oron, Mbo, Okobo, Urueofong/Oruko and Udung Uko, which have all been reported, but other sundry crimes happen here on a daily basis on the high seas, but unreported.
“Recently, a prominent traditional ruler was kidnapped here and taken into the high sea, where a negotiation for a ransom of N50 million was negotiated before he was released after one week in solitary confinement away from the comfort of his palace.
“A prominent politician and businessman, who is into oil and gas, was kidnapped and taken for weeks into the sea for weeks, before bailing himself out with millions of naira as ransom.
“A Navy Rating from the Forward Operating Base (FOB), at Ibaka, here in Mbo LGA, was kidnapped along with seven other persons in a hotel here.
“Outboard engines running into N3.5 million each, are daily seized by sea pirates and militants. The owners, who are mostly poor fishermen are given deadline within which to pay a stipulated ransom or forfeit the engines”, he stressed.
“We have been on strike severally and withdraw our services from the waters due to incessant Kidnapping of our members and calling on authorities to come to our aid to no avail.
“Fishing is our only source of livelihood here because everybody cannot work in government, but terrorism on the high seas can’t allow us to do our work in peace. We have lost several of our members for daring to resist, and are thrown overboard while they made away with their boats,” a leader of one of the fishing associations, who preferred to remain anonymous told our Correspondent.
A traditional ruler in one of the Okobo communities, who would not want his name mentioned, lamented the proliferation of small arms and light weapons across the zone, noting that “the discovery of this weapons at Okobo suburb, could be one of several other illegal armories in the zone, and called on security agencies for a thorough mop – up operation.
The President of the Oron Union (OU), a socio – cultural umbrella association for the zone, Sir Esang Nsa Bassey, in the same vein, condemned militants activities of the sea criminals, lamenting that the heightened insecurity in the coastal LGAs have distorted the maritime businesses, being the only economic life wire of the zone.
He, therefore, appealed to the State government and securiy agencies to step up their act, in order to stem security breaches in the coastal areas for economic activities to resume fully.
Towards addressing the security challenges, which he noted, are not peculiar to Akwa Ibom alone, but a Nigerian and global problem, the State governor, Pastor Umo Eno, according to the commissioner for Information, Comrade Iniobong Ememobong, has variously intervened in the security sector in the State.
No fewer than 14 gunboats, the creation of the new Ministry of Internal Security and Waterways, with a retired Army Major General, Koko Essien, as the commissioner, as well as provisions of intermittent security logistics to security agencies, he noted, are some of the measures by government to check crimes in the State.
