the personal assistant to Governor Umo Eno, have persisted in pointing fingers since Monday Toby’s murder in a violent confrontation between local revenue collectors in Akwa Ibom State’s Mkpat Enin local government area.
Rumor has it that the victim was ambushed and brutally murdered on a market day last week.
The assistant to Eno, who had previously written a “Save Our Soul” letter to the governor, now blames Lady Mercy Bassey, who is the chair of the Transition Committee, for the unjustified attack and for encouraging the police to arrest him, despite the fact that he narrowly avoided death.
But he begged the governor to step in and rescue him and stop the town from bleeding to death.
“Your Excellency, in light of recent events—including the tragic loss of a young man named Samuel Monday Toby in Ikot Akpaobong, the apprehension and incarceration of seven youths from Mkpat Enin in the state CID, and the incursion of Ukam market last week Wednesday involving ten truckloads of policemen, resulting in numerous casualties—it is imperative that you intervene and summon Lady Mercy Bassey, the chairwoman of the Transition Committee, to account for the bloodshed, the use of thugs, and the brutality of the police against those whom the Transition Committee Chair deems as her enemies.
He said that the chairman of the transition team, who was also a revenue collector, had unilaterally suspended the committees responsible for collecting taxes soon after taking office without consulting the appropriate parties.
Nevertheless, according to a statement released on Wednesday by Amos Afia, the secretary of the Transition Committee, Lady Mercy Bassey, the chair of the Transition, announced a tax-free month for vendors at the Mkpat-Enin market upon assuming office after consulting with members of the Transition Committee. She also dissolved all standing committees in the Local Government Council, including the revenue collection committee.
Despite the announcement being made on the radio and shared on social media, she said that a group of young people in the local government, including the personal assistant to the governor Akanimo Bob Ikpe and the village head of Ikot Akpaobong, Eteidung Aniefiok Cyril Udom, disobeyed the order and sold fake tickets to vendors in the Akpaudo and Ukam markets.
In a press release signed by Pastor Afia Amos, the Secretary of the Transition Committee, the leadership of the local government council declared December 2023 a tax-free month for traders in Mkpat Enin, according to Bassey. This decision was made after due consultation with members of the Transition Committee. In addition, we declared that the Local Government Council’s revenue collection committee, along with all other standing committees, would be disbanding. (joined hereto)
Ikot Akpaobong Village Head Eteidung Aniefiok Cyril Udom and Personal Assistant to the Governor Akanimo Bob Ikpe violated the order by selling illegal tickets to vendors in the Akpaudo and Ukam markets, despite the release, radio, and social media announcements ensuring a smooth execution of the tax-free exercise.
It was formally communicated to Eteidung Aniefiok Cyril Udom, the village chief of Ikot Akpaobong, on December 20, 2023, to introduce an enforcement team to oversee the elimination of tax-free excise from all of the community’s markets. Furthermore, the newly formed Markets/Motor Parks Committee was officially introduced to the Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Command, on December 29, 2023, with the authority to collect taxes beginning January 1, 2024. (joined hereto)
It is with great sadness that we learn of the assault on the residence of Samuel Monday Toby, a native of Mkpat Enin, on December 22, 2023. Toby had been helping with the enforcement of the stoppage of tax collection at Ikot Akpaobong Market. On December 29, 2023, Mrs. Gift Samuel Monday petitioned the State Commissioner of Police with details regarding the attack and her husband’s tragic death. With his appointment to assist with the enforcement of the Ikot Akpaobong Market revenue collection suspension directive of the Mkpat Enin Local Government Council, “his assassination is not far-fetched from his 21st December 2023, involvement in the enforcement of the directive,” the petition claims. (joined hereto)
The Nigeria Police responded swiftly and arrested a number of people after Samuel Monday Toby’s killing. The police are still conducting investigations, as far as I can tell.
The assertion made by Akanimo Bob Ikpe regarding his position as a tax collection official in the Local Government is, however, in violation of the law.
The arrest of the afflicted community’s village head and other suspects in connection with the crime has been confirmed by Odiko Macdon, the Police Public Relations Officer in Akwa Ibom.
Law and order maintenance is the responsibility of the police, he stated. The police responded to the report and immediately set out to make the area safe again.
The cops collaborated with everyone to get things back to normal. The fact that one of the groups went and killed someone else is tragic. Some people were arrested as a result of that.
That case is now under the purview of the State CID. Stealthy inquiry is still going on.. We will make public the outcome of the investigation that the Commissioner of Police requested.
Law and order has been maintained, and the police’s goal is not to instill fear among the public. Allow them to sit down and restore it politically if they have any political issues. We will not stand by as lawlessness spreads across the state. Thus, we have begun working on it.Council chair and Governor Eno’s aide trade accusations in a revenue collection crisis that claims one life.
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