Police arrest 42 persons for electoral offences in Akwa Ibom

The police in Akwa Ibom said 42 persons have been arrested for electoral offences in the state during the just concluded general elections.

The police spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, Odiko MacDon, stated this on Friday while briefing reporters on the successes recorded in the state by the police in the past month.

Those arrested committed offences ranging from unlawful possession of firearms, unlawful possession of electoral materials such as result sheets, political thuggery, and malicious damage to electoral materials, Mr MacDon, a deputy superintendent of police, said.

Mr MacDon did not give details of those arrested but said the suspects would soon be charged to the court upon completion of investigations.

Other suspected criminals were paraded before reporters during the press briefing which took place at the police headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia.

Mr MacDon said two suspects, Emeti Effiong Jimmy of Assana village and Akaninyene Silas Effiong of Minya Ntak, Mkpat Enin Local Government Area, were arrested on March 14 for a crime of robbery and murder.

The police said the two men robbed their female victim, one Nsidibe Monday Tommy, in her shop in Ikot Ntuen village, Oruk Anam Local Government Area, and disposed her of N70,000.

When the victim’s father, Monday Akpan, tried to rescue her, the suspects hit him on the head with sticks and iron rods. He later died while being rushed to the hospital for treatment, the police said.

The police said it also arrested three men, one Benny Essien Effiong, one Emmanuel, alias ‘Edworm’, and one David, alias ‘Miliphid’ of Mkpanak, Ibeno Local Government Area for robbing six people of their belongings in a compound in the local government area.

One locally made gun, one expended cartridge, four Android phones, ATM cards, SIM cards, and memory cards were recovered from the suspects, according to the police.

Four men who stole a Toyota Hilux truck from an estate in Uyo, and attempted to change its colour in Ikot Ekpene so they could sell off the truck were arrested by the police on March 1, following a tip-off.

The police gave the suspects’ names as Uduak Stephen James of Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, Oscar Albert Eyo of Uruan Local Government Area, Bassey Ntokon Otong of Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area, and Wisdom Okon Edet of Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area.

Also, three men, Friday John, Joseph Effiong, and Eke Christopher, arrested on February 28 for kidnapping and raping a female victim, have been arraigned in court, the police said.