Many injured as Eket community allegedly attacked Ibeno

At last, 12 persons were injured when alleged hoodlums from the Eket community attacked an oil-bearing community of Inua Eyet Ikot in Ibeno Local Government of Akwa Ibom State.

It was learnt that many of the persons were taken to hospitals after the renewed communal assaults on Ibeno.

The attack, according to some residents, occurred in the early hours of Friday, around 1:30 am, with five people who were fatally shot and wounded currently receiving treatments at the Cottage Hospital, at Upenekang, the headquarters of Ibeno LGA.

An eyewitness, who preferred not to be named, said that Mr Daniel Asuquo, popularly known as “Dan Baba”, was one of the gunshot victims, caught in the crossfire while trying to escape.

His residence and that of others, along with belongings worth millions of naira, he stated, were vandalised and set ablaze, forcing the rest of the fishing community dwellers to seek refuge in churches and relatives’ homes outside the crisis-torn area.

“At about 1:30 am on Friday, we heard gunshots in our community, and we immediately alerted the Police, who mobilised down to rescue us.

“The police team arrived when the attackers had escaped. A search was conducted where one of the victims, Mr Daniel Asuquo, alias ‘Danbaba’, was seen lying in a pool of his blood from gunshot wounds. He was urgently evacuated to a nearby health facility.

“This attack is the fifth time Ibeno has been attacked by Eket and Esit Eket LGAs in recent times,” another eyewitness and member of the youths’ vigilante group recalled.

He noted that “Ibeno LGA is home to major oil installations and multinational operations, and has come under attack by its neighbours as a result of re-mapping and boundary re-adjustment initiated by the immediate past administration of former Governor Udom Emmanuel.

“This recent attack has added a fresh layer of concern for peace and security in Ibeno, which produces 80 per cent of oil revenues to the Akwa Ibom State government and the centre.

“We view this as a continuation of the unresolved hostilities and tensions between communities in Ibeno and Eket LGAs, often linked to long-standing feud,” another victim, currently taking refuge in the neighbouring Eastern Obolo LGA,” he added.

Local leaders have condemned the incessant attacks on Ibeno communities, which have led to loss of lives and destruction of property, and have appealed to Governor Umo Eno, security agencies and other concerned organisations, including the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to come to their aid.

The Commissioner of Police (CP), Baba Azare, who confirmed the attack, assured that efforts were underway to track down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

“Investigation is ongoing,” he assured, declaring that the police would do their utmost to fish out the suspects as operatives had been deployed.