Tension has gripped the Ukam community in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom state following violent clashes involving factional revenue collectors.
The clashes resulted in the death of one Samuel Monday Toby and inflicted various degrees of injury on dozens of others, LEADERSHIP learnt on Tuesday.
Armed Policemen, intervening to restore calm, have laid siege to the community, searching for the perpetrators, including one Akanimo Bob, a Personal Assistant (PA) to Governor Umo Eno, detailed to the LGA to maintain peace after the clash of two revenue groups at Ikot Akpa Bong market.
LEADERSHIP checks revealed that the trouble started at the Ikot Akpa Bond market when the Local Government Transition Chairman, Mrs. Mercy Bassey, dissolved the former Revenue Committee in the area without consulting the host communities claiming the markets in the area.
An eyewitness, Utibe Udo Odiong, recalled that the late Toby was ambushed and killed on Ikot Akpa Bong market day when his assailants, in a mob action, attacked him, causing him to die instantly on the spot while traders scattered for safety.
“Since the incident, the Transition Chairman, Mrs. Mercy Bassey, ordered the Police to cordon-off all the local markets during market days to prevent further attacks,” he explained.
In an open letter titled “Save My Soul,” addressed to Governor Eno and made available to newsmen in Uyo, the embattled governor’s aide, whose home was being monitored by the police at the time of filing this report, appealed for the Governor’s quick intervention to forestall further skirmishes and deaths.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Odiko MacDon, said calm has been restored by tactical Police operatives dispatched to the troubled area by the Commissioner of Police (CP) Olatoye Durosinmi.
He added that the Village Head and some of the suspected hoodlums involved in the crisis have been arrested, while “discreet investigations continue.”
