Stakeholders of Ifa Ikot Akpan Etoi village in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State have petitioned the Commissioner of Police, Baba Mohammed Azare, urging him to investigate the arrest and detention of residents by officers on trump-up allegations.

In the petition, which was written through their lawyer, Ubong Peters Esq, a copy of which was made available to South-South PUNCH correspondent in Uyo on Tuesday, the petitioners lamented that specific individuals in the community have been giving wrong information to police officers, leading to the arrest and detention of targeted persons under false claims.

They urged the commissioner to take immediate action on the matter to avoid a possible backlash that could lead to the breakdown of law and order in the peaceful community.

The petition was titled ‘Petition Against One Roland Etim Ben, Ubong Inyang Asuquo, Nsubo Effiong Akpan and Unknown Two Persons From Ifa Ikot Akpan For Using Officers and Men of the Nigerian Police Force To Threaten, Arrest and Indefinite Detention of Inieke Edem Aniedi, Ezekiel Edem Aniedi, Victor Edet Asuquo, Iboro Aniedi Ebong, Edidiong Effiong Ubit Itoro Etim Ben in Ifa Ikot Akpan Village: A Call for Restraint and Investigation To Avoid Breakdown of Law and Order in Ifa Ikot Akpan Village.’

Dated 19th of February,2025, the petition was addressed to the CP and copied to the state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Uko Udom, SAN, the Area Command Police Station, Barracks Road and E-Division Police Station, Shelter Afrique, Uyo, respectively.

The petition stated, “We act and are solicitors to Inieke Edem Aniedi, Ezekiel Edem Aniedi, Victor Edet Asuquo, Iboro Aniedi Ebong, Edidiong Effiong Ubit and Itoro Etim Ben of Ifa Ikot Akpan, Etoi, Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, hereafter referred to as our ‘clients’ and on whose instructions we now write to you to complain about the above subject matter.”

The petitioners accused one Roland Etim Ben and his group of confusing the community by using the police negatively to arrest and detain perceived enemies.

The petitioners averred that Ben and his group last year went to the house of one Bassey Ediette, also a resident of the community, last year and started videoing his compound in his absence and without his consent, which he (Ediette), later confirmed to be true through a CCTV camera in the house.

They alleged that Ben was arrested by the local police in Ifa village when he was trying to video Ediette’s residence the second time and was taken to the Anti-Disaster Unit at the police headquarters, Ikot-Akpanabia in Uyo, where he was detained and later released on bail.

However, the petitioners stated that upon his release from custody, he allegedly connived with his team and laid a false complaint against the aggrieved stakeholders, leading to their arrest and indefinite detention by the police.



https://punchng.com/aibom-community-petitions-police-over-alleged-arrests-demands-ptobe/