There was a stampede last Wednesday in Nsit Ubium after the commissioning of some projects in the area that was executed by the state Inter ministerial Direct Labour coordinating committee. Soon after the commissioning, there was a town hall meeting at the Local government headquarters at Ikot Edibom which was attended by the commissioning team, youths, Elders, women and political groups from the area.
At the town Hall meeting, the commissioner for finance Bassey Albert Akpan had addressed the people, soon after the council chairman, Mr. Ekpedeme Amos Akpan returned to his office youths groups began to attack the Chairman of the council over his refusal to give them money for turning up for the event as was promised.
The youth groups regrouped and stormed the chairman’s office chanting solidarity songs that they will not go until they are being settled, they succeeded in holding the chairman hostage and after they observed that the council boss, Ekpedeme Amos was not willing to come out to address them or see them for the alleged settlement he had earlier promised them, the youths lost their patience and started throwing stones on the roof of the Chairman’s office and also stoned the window glasses for the chairman to come out, but the chairman Mr. Ekedeme Akpan never came out, they decided to break glasses in the chairman’s office so that they can get to the chairman but the chairman ran away from the office and hide himself to avoid being wounded by the irate youths.
It took the intervention of the Divisional police station at the council headquarters before the chairman came out of the office as the youths have already destroyed and damaged a lot of things at council particularly in the chairman’s office.
It was gathered that the council chairman used a ladder to enter the ceiling and walked to another office before he could come out of the office as the angry youths had barricaded everywhere.
A member of the PDP ward executive who spoke in confidence with this reporter blamed the council chairman for introducing something he will not be able to do to the end.
He said that the chairman shared money irresponsibly at any gathering he attend, that is why anything that he attends or host, the women, youths and the elderly will struggle to go there so that they can get the money and when there is no money like that it becomes a problem.
The PDP chieftain recalled that last month alone the chairman had spent over 6 million naira on political gatherings by giving groups money at every function they attend so that they will be loyal to support the governorship ambition of the immediate past SSG, Mr. Umana O. Umana.
He disclosed that it was because of the sudden removal of the former SSG that made the council chairman to stop giving the youth’s money as the removal came as a surprise to him and the chairman was not himself throughout the event, as he was in shock.
He maintained that the chairman since then decided to stop all those spending on groups and youths which made the people angry with him and decided to destroy properties in his office.
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