Akaniyene Tommy, the Chairman of Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom has condemned the attack on one Edikan Edoho by a suspected Scavenger at Marina Junction in Eket, Eket Local Government Area of the state.
Tommy made the condemnation during a visit to the family of the victim in Afaha Eket village who was gruesomely murdered in the early hours of Sunday, March 20th.
He said that the boy was murdered by a scrap metal scavenger after a mild disagreement between the them.
Consoling the bereaved family, Tommy sued for calm, adding that the suspect was cooling off in the police cell.
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The Chairman said combined Team of Police Force and Military Task Force (JTF) operating in Eket apprehended the culprit, stressing that the suspect would surely face the full wrath of the law if found guilty.
Tommy, further called on all the youths of the area to avoid any act of retaliation as it would fuel the crisis further.
He promised that he would do all within his powers to ensure there is no repeat of such act.
Tommy, however announced a re-enforcement of the ban placed on the activities of scrap metal scavengers in Eket.
He explained that anyone seen engaging in such activities would be duly arrested and handed over to the security agencies in the state.
He further called on people of the local government to stay calm and go about their routine activities as normalcy has been restored.
In a separate remark at the visit, the Youth Leader of the Hausas’ living in Eket, Alhaji Ibrahim Iliya condemned the murder of Edikan Edoho by one of his Hausa brothers.
Iliya noted that the Hausas’ were peace loving people and having stayed for more than 31 years in Eket, he cannot support any form of violence in Eket Local Government by any of their subjects.
He called on the law enforcement agencies to take its full course on the arrested culprit.
Reacting to the incident, the Akwa Ibom Police Public Relations Officer, SP, Odiko Macdon, confirmed the incident, saying that the culprit was in detention in Eket Police Station.