The events of the recent weeks in Akwa Ibom State few days to the first 100 days of the present administration headed by Governor Udom Emmanuel have hit many like a thunderbolt and have become a topical issue of interest.
It all began as the state government was preparing to roll out the drums to mark its first 100 days in office when news broke that a section of the governor’s office in Uyo, the state capital had been “invaded by agents of the Department of State Security.’’
First, it was pretty difficult to get a confirmation from the state government whether it was true in every material particularly that the governor’s lodge was invaded or raided and whether the raiders had uncovered anything.
This was however, put to rest when a top official of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, acting national chairman of the party, cleared all doubts about the incident at a press conference in Abuja confirming that the incident was true.
As if that was not enough, another party man, a governor from the south-west part of the country Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, lent his voice to the report making the state government to issue a statement not denying that the incident took place but that those items that were purported to have been uncovered were not true after all.
According to Ekerete Udoh, chief press secretary to the governor, the story of the invasion is nothing but “a lie concocted by people who wish to form a narrative that bears no reality to what is on ground in the peaceful and serene state of Akwa Ibom.
“The illegal invasion of the Governor’s Lodge guest wing has already been condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians and it is sad that people could throw rationality and decency to the winds by publishing such a blatant lie.
“Let me state here that Governor Udom Emmanuel will not be distracted by the machinations of the opposition or its agents. His 100 days have been packed by superlative performance and the good people of Akwa Ibom State who voted for him massively last April 11, are solidly behind him.”
To say that the timing of the invasion which coincided with the beginning of activities lined up to mark the governor’s first 100 days in office jolted many and might have dampened the spirit of many well-meaning people in the state is to say the obvious.
An indication that the invasion was likely to generate a lot of ill feelings and might not go down well began with the response from people across all strata of the society who have risen in unity to distance themselves from such a “clear breach of the immunity of the governor.’’
Speaking at a press conference in Uyo, the state capital, a group of elders in the state led by Idongesit Nkanga, former military governor, who spoke on behalf of other senior citizens of the state including Effiong Bob, a senator who represented Uyo senatorial district in the last National Assembly and Chris Ekpeyong, a former deputy governor, they all expressed their utter disgust over the incident, saying they could no longer keep quiet as the country’s institutions were being desecrated.
“In as much as we appreciate the responsibilities of agencies of government in carrying out their assigned roles, it would be necessary for the sake of our democracy for the Federal Government to call its agents to order and restrain them from involving in activities that have the tendency of unsettling the peaceful nature of our society,’’ they said.
Maintaining that the exercise was not just a routine surveillance as the security operatives would want others to believe, they added that considering the “strong-arm show exhibited by the invading team, which held the entire government house complex and the adjourning areas of Uyo, the Akwa State capital to ransom, it was a clear evidence that the action was a calculated attempt to intimidate the governor and his government in the face of the federal might.’’
While only a handful have expressed cautious optimism over the incident, many have raised questions whether it was proper for the DSS to have been involved in the exercise rather than the police, whether it was not a political vendetta and whether the residence of a governor can be raided by security operatives.
Still others have raised their voices against the direction in which the country’s hard-fought democracy is heading while others have pointed to the need to respect the civil liberty and human rights of all citizens by the security operatives.
But for lawyers in the state, the Uyo branch of the Nigerian Bar Association in particular, it is a question of waiting to see if the report about the invasion is true indeed, stressing that it is still studying the unfolding drama and hoping that it was not true.
Aniekan Amos Akpan, the new branch chairman of the association, said if the report was however, found to be true, it would be an attack on the rights and liberties of government functionaries, saying “if government functionaries are attacked, what would happen to those of ordinary citizens?”
Indeed, the action of the DSS agents has raised many questions than answers in that no statement was issued a week after the raid had taken place. Perhaps, if the DSS had made its findings known after the exercise, it would have justified the speculations about what transpired and what they actually uncovered in the governor’s lodge.
Again, according to observers, it does not matter what was found during the raid, what matters most is the manner and the method of carrying out the exercise, saying that the lack of respect for the rights of the individuals involved and the provisions of the Nigerian constitution relating to the immunity of certain persons was distasteful.
It is this aspect for the protection of the rights of individuals and the immunity clause for some top elected government officials, that members of the Akwa Ibom Assembly raised their strongest objection to the exercise, saying that while other elected politicians are protected under the constitution “the governor of Akwa Ibom State has been singled out and stripped of his right which has been provided for him under the law.’’
Aniekan Uko, speaker of the 26-member assembly speaking on behalf of other members, noted that if the raid on the governor’s lodge was not an act of felony, persecution and political vendetta, the DSS would have declared their mission before “unleashing terror on innocent workers of Akwa Ibom Ibom State Government and or openly declare to the authorities in the state what they found and what they took away from our Government House.”
The lawmakers in their resolve invited “Nigerians from all walks of life to rise up and overwhelmingly challenge acts of impunity by the political class and security operatives in the country, including the State Security Service.”
Though it is often believed that each administration has a peculiar challenge to grapple with during its tenure, the story of the invasion of the Akwa Ibom governor’s lodge appears to be one issue that many had wished never happened.
Coming at a time, the governor was celebrating his first 100 days in office in which many laudable achievements have been recorded seems to have been aimed at taking the shine off the impressive start so made so far.
For example, within the first 100 days, the state government has reactivated the ailing Peacock Paint which needed a little over N100 million for it to come back to life, commenced the rehabilitation of the only general hospital in the state capital and settled the arrears of unpaid pensions, a clear case of hitting the ground running.
Beyond this, many people think the governor has to go the extra mile in bringing all sections of the state together and ensure that he is seen as the governor of the entire state, for it is widely held belief that the unity and peaceful coexistence is as important as bringing development to the people.
As the story of the invasion continues to make the rounds, it remains to be seen how the dramatis personae involved would play their parts to the extent that the fears expressed by many people both within and outside the state on the mission of the DSS are allayed and the confidence of the people restored.
ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK
