By SAM EYOBOKA

…As family petitions Jonathan, IGP, others
THE circumstances surrounding the brutal murder of three blood brothers at their family house in Ikot-Ekpene, has continued to generate tension in Akwa-Ibom State following allegations by the family of the victims that some security operatives were responsible for the death.

In fact, a prominent member of the family and founder of Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministry, Evangelist Helen Ukpabio, on behalf of the family of Chief Essien Akpabio of Mente Village, Nkari Clan, Ini Local Government Area of the state, has dispatched a petition to President Goodluck Jonathan, Director of State Security Service and the acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, appealing to them to wade into what she described as ‘the barbaric’ killing of her three brothers in one day.

Addressing newsmen in Lagos, Helen Ukpabio, mother of three and elder sister to the three slain brothers, accused the Nigerian Police and State Security Service, SSS, of responsibility over the death of her three brothers-Charles, Emmanuel and Joseph Akpabio. The three brothers were allegedly killed in the presence of their aged mother, Mrs. Etim Akpabio.

Helen said the brothers were murdered on Sunday, March 25, 2012 in their village, an incident which has thrown the villagers into confusion as they cannot understand why three brothers could be dispatched to the world beyond with such impunity.

She said: “I have never seen such a callous thing before, three corpses from one family in one day? Even if they had something against them, they should have arraigned them before a competent court of jurisdiction for them to have the opportunity of defending themselves,”  stressing that all conscionable people to come to the aid of her family to ensure that justice was done in the matter.

The Slain Brothers: (l-r) Charles, Joseph and Emmanuel Akpabio

Narrating the sordid tale of how the brothers were slain, Helen said on Saturday, March 24, some white men purportedly working with AG Vision Nigeria Limited handling the construction of a dam in Nkari Clan, visited the village in company of a very close friend to the late Akpabios, one Benjamin Christopher Otu, to solicit the support of Chief Essien Akpabio, father of the murdered brothers, in connection with the proposed dam, which they claimed would be a source of employment/empowerment for the community youth.

She said: “Being the community youth leader, my late brother, Joseph Akpabio, thought it would be nice to invite the youth of the community for the meeting which was fixed for the next day, March 25 at his residence in Ikot Ekpene, an hour drive from his village in Nkari Clan. But unknown to Joseph and his two other brothers, they were allegedly being lured by their best friend, Benjamin Christopher Otu, into the hands of the SSS and the Police by a security team led by one Mr. Noel Nduka.”

The evangelist noted that during the meeting at Joseph’s residence in Ikot Ekpene, the three white men excused themselves to hold consultation outside and as soon as they stepped outside the house, “they met with over 20 armed policemen and one SSS operative called Noel Nduka. The three white men who pretended they wanted to hold a meeting with the youths now shook hands with the SSS operative, Nduka and left.”

She noted that the policemen and Nduka immediately rounded up the youths, including the three young Akpabios and ordered everyone in the compound to lie face down while they were being handcuffed and forced into a truck.

Helen said: “Otu, who took the white men to the Akpabios’ compound was also handcuffed but was later released and started discussion with the policemen while the policemen opened fire on the rest of the youths. They carried the three brothers to their father’s house in the village where they ransacked everywhere searching for Chief Akpabio and when they couldn’t find him, the armed policemen dragged his two sons, Charles and Joseph to a plantain plantation where they were badly beaten and eventually killed in the presence of their aged mother, Mrs. Atim Akpabio.

“The other four youths, including Emmanuel Akpabio were taken away and were subsequently executed and dumped by the roadside and labeled armed robbers by the SSS operative and the Police.”

Helen further alleged that the security team has one of the corpses and has refused to release him to the family for burial adding that President Goodluck Jonathan should urgently intervene in the matter and order those still in possession of Emmanuel Akpabio’s corpse to release it to enable the family give him a befitting burial, and to beef up security around herself and her aged parents as their lives are seriously under threat.

Dare devil killer squad
Speaking further on the threat to their lives by a daredevil killer squad determined to wipe out the entire Akpabio family, the lady preacher revealed that her father has 80 per cent of the total land mass where a dam is being constructed in Nkari Clan and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources had approved about N500 million (Five Hundred Million naira) as compensation to the owners of the construction site.

She added: “We are aware that a serving senator in the seventh Senate in conjunction with a former governorship aspirant in Akwa Ibom State were behind the plot to wipe out the entire family to pave the way for them to share the compensation in respect of the land where the dam is being built,” noting that despite several petitions to the Police and security agents, “the fellows are mobilizing resources to frustrate the inquisition of this cruel and barbaric murder.”