Fallout of Akwa Ibom mayhem: Police slam ACN gov candidate with treason

Posted by admin Akwa Ibom, General Politics, State News Friday, March 25th, 2011

The Police yesterday arraigned before a Federal High Court, Abuja, the ACN governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State, John Akpan Udoedehe, on a four count charge of treason that will effectively keep out of circulation ahead of the coming elections. The maximum penalty for treason is death.

His arraignment is the fallout of the political violence that erupted last Tuesday in Ikot Ekpene and on Wednesday in Uyo, claiming several lives and hundreds of tricycles and vehicles.

The campaign office of President Goodluck Jonathan in Uyo was also torched. The violence involved supporters of the ACN and those of the PDP.

The charges against Udoedehe, a former Minister of State for FCT, are:

Count 1
That you John James Akpan Udoedehe ‘M’ and others now at large, as citizens of Nigeria on the 22nd day of March, 2011, at Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom state in the Abuja Judicial Division, did conspire amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit: treason by levying war against the state with intent to cause such levying of war as would intimidate or overawe the Governor of the state and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 37 (2) of the Criminal Code Act Cap ‘C’ 38 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

Count 2
That you John James Akpan Udoedehe, ‘M’ and others now at large, as citizens of Nigeria on the 22nd day of March, 2011, at Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom state in the Abuja Judicial Division, did levy war against the state in order intimidate or overawe the Governor of the state by discharging several gun shots at him and his entourage while o his official assignment, and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 37 (1) of the Criminal Code Act Cap ‘C’ 38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

Count 3
That you John James Akpan Udoedehe ‘M’ and others now at large, as citizens of Nigeria on the 22nd day of March, 2011, at Uyo I Akwa Ibom state in the Abuja Judicial Division did conspire amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit: treason by levying war against the state with intent to cause such levying of war as would intimidate or overawe the Governor of the state and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 37 (2) of the Criminal Code Act Cap ‘C’ 38 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

Count 4
That you John James Akpan Udoedehe ‘M’ and others now at large, as citizens of Nigeria on the 22nd day of March, 2011, at Uyo I Akwa Ibom state in the Abuja Judicial Division did levy war against the state in order intimidate or overawe the Governor of the state by discharging several gun shots at him and his entourage while o his official assignment, and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 37 (1) of the Criminal Code Act Cap ‘C’ 38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

Udoedehe had been invited to Abuja on Thursday by the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Hafiz Ringim. On his arrival, he was detained and taken to court yesterday for prosecution.

The prosecuting counsel, Mr Godwin Ijeoma, told the court that besides the destruction of property worth billions of Naira over 200 cars were burnt by the rampaging supporters of the accused person, and that the Federal Government decided to take the case serious in view of the fact that four Nigerians lost their lives in the mayhem.

He opposed an oral application for bail by counsel to the accused person, Mr Andem Ndem, who pleaded with the court to consider the social status and political pedigree of the accused person and grant him bail on self recognition.

After listening to both sides, Presiding Justice Adamu Bello ordered the defence counsel to go back and re-approach the court with a formal bail application.

He said, “the onus is on the accused, not on the prosecution, to show why bail should be granted to him. The reason adduced by the accused counsel on why he should be granted bail should have been done through a sworn affidavit.

“Let the accused file a formal application with sufficient materials that will warrant the exercise of the discretion of this court in his favour.

“I hereby order that the accused person should be kept in police custody until Tuesday for him to file his application which will be heard on that date”.

Reacting after his oral bail application was rejected, the defence counsel, Andem, wondered why only his client was singled out for prosecution when the fracas actually involved two sides.

He questioned why police did not take as similar action in Bayelsa state where he alleged that supporters of Governor Timipre Sylva, and those of Mr. Timi Alaibe, exchanged fire.

*ACN asks IGP to resign for gross partisanship, flouting court orders
Meanwhile, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has asked the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Hafiz Ringim to resign before next month’s general elections, having shown that he cannot lead the police to be non-partisan at this critical stage in the election process.

In a statement in Ilorin, Kwara state, National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, also accused the police boss of blatantly disregarding court orders.

He said the IGP exhibited gross partisanship in handling the pre-election violence in Akwa Ibom, hence cannot be trusted to lead his men to be neutral and fair during the polls.

‘’The IGP is a major player in the collusion between the Akwa Ibom state government and the police to put away our gubernatorial candidate in the state, Senator John James Udoedehe, on flimsy and politically-motivated charges before the election, to give easy and undeserved victory to Gov. Godswill Akpabio, who knows he cannot win a free and fair election in the state.

‘’The IGP invited our candidate, Senator Udoedehe, to his office, only for him to detain the candidate and charge him to court for treasonable felony, despite a subsisting court order not only that Senator Udoedehe should not be arrested but that the police should give him protection from now till end of the elections.

“The IGP, who was duly served with the orders of the court, willfully disregarded it, just to please his pay masters. Instead he made a villain out of a victim. Where is the fairness in that, when Senator Udoedehe is the victim in the government-instigated violence? This is the way and manner the police under IGP Ringim have been behaving in the run-up to the elections.

“We are therefore left with no choice than to ask the IGP to step down, unless of course he wants to confirm the rumour that he was appointed specifically to work for a PDP victory at the polls.

‘’In the event that he fails to heed our call to resign, we call on the international election monitors now converging on the country to note the highly-partisan role of the police under him. Afterall, election is a process while the voting day is just a part of the process,’’ ACN said.

The party also demanded the immediate release of Senator Udoedehe and an end to the intimidation of all ACN candidates and supporters in Akwa Ibom, in the interest of peace and tranquility.

It expressed shock that the State Security Service (SSS) has joined the police in their acts of intimidation of the opposition, wondering why they will invite for questioning the attorney for Senator Udoedehe simply because he appeared on TV to explain what happened in the Akwa Ibom crisis.

‘’The arrest of Senator Udoedehe is only the latest in a series of acts designed by the state government, acting in concert with the police, to put him away before the elections, just because of his immense popularity and acceptability by the people. The government has persistently used state machinery to suppress and persecute him. After they failed in their attempt to frame him for murder, they instigated this violence as a last resort.

-Vanguardwp_posts