Patrick Ekpoh, Uyo
Ex-freedom fighters drawn from Akwa Ibom State have called on the President, Major General Mohammadu Buhari to sack the Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio for alleged abuse of office, corruption and gross misconduct.
They also urged to Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu to investigate the sudden demise of the Director of Finance and Administration of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Ibanga Etang, who passed away recently
The group under the auspices of the Niger Delta Volunteers in a release addressed to the presidency dated 1st June,2020.and made available to newsmen in Uyo on Thursday threatened that if the demands are not met they would have no option than to shut down oil installations in the country.
The release signed by Ekpo Ekpo and Nsidibe Etim said “After due consultation with the elders, youth leaders and other stakeholders accross Akwa Ibom State we hereby demand for the immediate removal/prosecution of the Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio for alleged gross misconduct and abuse of office.
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“The Niger Delta Volunteers can no longer keep silent while a few blood thirsty and money hungry politicians who have been declaring war against all individuals who crossed their path, continue to vandalise the resources of the Niger Delta region at the expense of the masses
“Moreover, the Interim Management Commiittee of the NDDC should be dissolved immediately and the substantive board constituted to run the affairs of the Commission.
“The recent demise of the Commission’s Acting Executive director, finance and administration, Mr Ibanga Etang, which has been associated with COVID-19 is concocted and many observers suspect that the deceased must have been poisoned and silenced to clear the road for easy cover up for the misdeeds of the IMC, since it’s alleged that the director had threatened to expose all the dirty activities and corruption that had been going on in the commission in the past few months.
“We hereby demand that investigation be carried out by the office of the Inspector General of Police to identify the killers of the director”.
The Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Minister, Anietie Ekong could not react to the issues raised in the release as he was unable to pick his calls neither was he able to respond to the text message as at the time of filing the report.
