His Excellency
Pastor Umo Eno
Executive Governor
Akwa Ibom State
Government House
Uyo.
Your Excellency,
AN ALARM OVER UNACCEPTABLE INSECURITY IN ORO NATION
It is a given that, governments everywhere share the core responsibility of prioritizing the security of their citizens’ lives and property, above every other thing.
1. Your Excellency, Oro Redemption Forum acknowledges your disposition to do good to every section of Akwa Ibom State. What remains is for you to muster the courage and the willpower to do the things you know are right before God and Man. While the initial strides Your Excellency has taken so far could be seen as promising and encouraging, we are anxiously waiting to see in concrete terms how your policies and actions will affirm Your Excellency as a father figure to all Akwa Ibom people.
2. Your Excellency, we acclaim your decision to address the division caused by the obnoxious TRC Law enacted by your predecessor, which nearly sparked ethnic tensions in our beloved state. We pray for divine guidance to help you resolve this issue and restore unity to the traditional institutions in Akwa Ibom State which are the custodians of our traditional values. And even more tragic is the issue of remapping, which resulted in widespread loss of lives and property. Unfortunately, instead of upholding the constitutional duty to protect citizens’ lives and property, the previous administration’s actions ignited ethnic tensions, claiming the lives of innocent Akwa Ibom citizens and destroying their properties. We eagerly anticipate your resolve to also address this critical issue.
3. However, the key essence of this letter, Your Excellency, is to draw your attention to the persistent unacceptable security situation in Oro Nation. In our opinion, the Government of Akwa Ibom State possesses the capability to have resolved the prolonged and endemic insecurity in Oro Nation much earlier. We recall the recent case where the Akwa Ibom State Government swiftly rescued Hon. Justice Joy Unwana of the Akwa Ibom State High Court within 72 hours of her abduction by kidnappers. In this instance, the government demonstrated both capacity and resolve because of the individual involved. It appears therefore that the inability of Akwa Ibom State Government to address the debilitating insecurity in Oro Nation is not a matter of capability but rather of negligence, carried over from the past administration in everything concerning Oro Nation.
4. For far too long, the people of Oro have endured relentless piracy attacks, sea robberies, kidnappings, and other grave security threats. Our fishermen, merchants, and maritime traders have faced repeated and devastating losses due to the relentless activities of pirates, sea robbers, kidnappers and others. More than six years today and counting, these criminals have wreaked havoc on our community, ruthlessly robbing our people at gunpoint of outboard engines, boats, fishing nets, merchandise, and substantial sums of money. They have mercilessly extorted tens to hundreds of millions of naira from kidnap victims and their families, subjected our women to heinous acts of rape, inflicted severe bodily harm, and tragically, even murmured some of their unfortunate victims.
5. The diversion route from Victor Attah International Airport through Ekeya to Oron, Atabong waterfronts/Atabong community in Okobo Local Government Area, Oron beach in Oron Local Government Area, Usung beach in Udung Uko Local Government Area, and Etisong Ebughu beach in Mbo Local Government Area have unfortunately become known safe passages for smuggling kidnap victims to their captors’ hideouts. Oro People have reluctantly come to terms with the grim reality of being frequent targets for ransom kidnappings, enduring relentless robberies of their valuables both onshore and offshore, and enduring dehumanising treatments at the hands of criminal elements. This resignation is a stark consequence of the prolonged neglect and abandonment by their state government.
6. Among the countless victims of kidnapping in Oro Nation are distinguished individuals such as Chief Eyo Okon Edet, a renowned entrepreneur and two-time Deputy Director-General of PDP Gubernatorial Campaigns in Akwa Ibom State; Justice Joy Unwana, a High Court Judge; Mr Nkereuwem Uko, a retired Police Officer; Elder Etim Bassey Harry, a prominent Oron-based entrepreneur; Mr Reagan Peters, another respected entrepreneur from Oron; Mrs Augusta Bassey Nyong, an elderly woman from Udung Uko abducted from her home in Eyotai; and Dr Robin John Esu, a medical practitioner abducted for the second time in less than five years, among numerous others. Dr Robin John Esu was kidnapped from his hospital in a consulting room while attending to a pregnant woman.
7. Though we do not wish other sections of Akwa Ibom State the harrowing experience Oro people have been going through without government showing any concern or even pretending to be concerned, or other forms of distressing situations, we noted how Akwa Ibom State Government was swift in responding to insecurity issue when Esit Eket and Ibeno Local Government Areas had face-off recently due to boundary disputes. No thanks to the inglorious attempt at conquest by the immediate past governor. Oron is not only a border town of Nigeria but shares maritime boundaries with other Nations of West and Central Africa Sub regions. Such a town deserves to be accorded maximum security attention. There is therefore no rationale for the utter abandonment of the Oro people, leaving them vulnerable to the whims of criminal elements who have exploited the government’s indifference to inflict untold devastation upon Oro people, economy, and society.
8. As of today, Oro has witnessed a devastating exodus of businesses, with many shutting down or relocating elsewhere. Residents have been forced to sell their properties and flee the area, while over 90% of non-native civil servants have also evacuated. Nightlife in Oro has ceased to exist, with everyone retreating indoors at dusk, and the once vibrant Oro economy lies in ruins. Social life has dwindled, leaving Oro a mere shadow of its former bustling self. Prices of seafood in Oro have skyrocketed to unimaginable dimensions due to cruel activities of pirates who have for long been feasting on both commercial and subsistent fishermen in Oron waters with impunity, carting away fishing boats, outboard engines and other items of worth on a daily basis. Indeed, Oro’s traditional economy has been tragically and mindlessly devastated.
9. Your Excellency, due to the alarming level of insecurity in Oro and the fear of abduction, none of the five Local Government Transitional Committee Chairmen from Oro reside in their respective Local Government Areas, as per your recent directive for effective and responsive grassroot governance. As a result, they cannot provide current updates on the security situation in their areas. We must also emphasize that all political elites including Your Excellency’s closest lieutenants and members of the State Executive Council from Oro Nation have indeed abandoned Oro. They now only make occasional visits, heavily guarded, especially when not engaged in political activities. This neglect exacerbates the already dire security challenges in Oro. They feel they are in comfort zones there in Uyo, leaving the rest of us to our fate of very helpless and precarious existence.
10. If the Akwa Ibom State Government continues to neglect its responsibility to ensure the security of lives and property in Oro Nation, it must be reminded that insecurity in Oro has the potential to escalate and affect the entire state. Recent reports, such as the kidnapping of Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo’s son on Thursday, May 2nd, 2024, highlight the seriousness of the situation. If even the child of a serving Minister of the Federal Republic could be abducted, urgent action is imperative from His Excellency to address the growing insecurity in Oro and prevent its spread to other parts of the state, for the sake of other parts of Akwa Ibom State, given the government’s apparent disregard for the lives and property of Oro people.
11. We recall the alarming trajectory of Boko Haram, which began as a joke in one northern state and gradually escalated into a nationwide crisis. Similarly, the Niger Delta agitation, initially comprising reasonable demands, was ignored until it erupted into a crisis that nearly engulfed Nigeria. We caution against the likelihood of heightened insecurity in Akwa Ibom State due to the evident neglect of the persistent security challenges in Oro Nation.
12. It defies logic that Oro, with its international maritime boundary with many African countries and recurrent maritime insecurities like piracy attacks, sea robberies, and kidnappings at sea, has been overlooked by the Akwa Ibom State Government. Instead, the government established Ibom Neighbourhood Watch and allocated resources like gunboats and security personnel to areas like Ikot Abasi in the hinterland, where maritime insecurity is less prevalent. Akwa Ibom State Government should as a matter of urgency, rise up to provide in Oro the security deserving of a border town sharing maritime boundaries with many Nations, as it is obtainable with such border towns all over the world. It is still more than just a shame to think that non of the five Police Divisional Headquarters in Oro can boast of a functional patrol vehicle. As a matter of fact, Oron Local Government Area alone deserves at least four (4) patrol vans. The continual disregard for such concerns deeply troubles us, prompting questions about the Akwa Ibom State Government’s recognition of Oro Nation as a legitimate part of the state. Oron Redemption Forum requests His Excellency to expeditiously address the unacceptable insecurity in Oro Nation.
13. In conclusion, we appeal to His Excellency as a Pastor, and a Man of God to have mercy on Oron People and take immediate action to protect and secure the lives and property of the Oro people. We demand the deployment of gunboats and security personnel to Oro Nation and Oron territorial waters. It is equally imperative to reinvigorate OPERATION ADUMA (JOINT MILITARY/PARAMILITARY TASK-FORCE) and set it in motion to combat insecurity in Oro Nation and other sections of the state. Police officers and other security operatives who have outlived their usefulness should be posted out and new bloods injected to drive the needed change. In fact, there should be a total and comprehensive overhaul of the security architecture in Oro nation. Oro does not deserve this deliberate neglect and abandonment. In any case, given NUPRC’s statistics on Oro’s enormous contributions to Akwa Ibom’s wealth, Oro deserves top-tier treatment within the state.
14. We extend our best wishes to Your Excellency for a successful and remarkable tenure.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Henshaw Assi
Secretary.
Mr Samuel Mkpofor
Chairman.
