A traditional doctor in Akwa Ibom State, Okuku Utom Ekpat has accused former Senator Ibom Essien of being behind what he described as “persistent” threat to his life in the state.
He said assailants who had earlier invaded and destroyed his residence are still after his life.
Speaking through his lawyer, Aniedi Abotti in a press briefing on Wednesday in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state, Ekpat alleged that his assailants were being sponsored by former senator Essien, to chase him away from his residence at Ikot Abia-Idem village in Ikot Ekpene LGA.
He claimed that the senator’s boys had invaded his residence, destroyed his property in the village, forcing him to relocate to his home town in Obot Akara Local government Area of the state.
He further claimed, “as if that was not enough, the boys traced him to his own community in Obot Akara LGA, destroyed his house under false allegations that he is a murderer and that he has a shrine which he is using to hynoptise unsuspecting members of the public.”
The lawyer who insisted that his client does not have a shrine but a prayer house, added that when those claims were investigated by the community nothing was found against him.
Giving a background of the matter, the lawyer said “My client is a responsible citizen living in Ikot Abia-Idem village in Ikot Ekpene. He is not from there but he resides there, and that is where he is doing his trade (Traditional Doctor). He has been there until last year, when Senator Ibok Essien decided to pursue him, but when we got into the fact, we discovered that he (the Senator) is doing it for selfish point of view; he is interested in acquiring all the land in Ukana area of Ikot Abia-Idem.”
When contacted by our correspondent, the former Senator, Ibok Essien who is also the proprietor of Ritman University Ikot Ekpene, described the traditional doctor as fraudster and a Kidnapper, adding that he is not the one after him but the law enforcement agency.
He asked the traditional doctor to go and answer his case with the police rather than going about telling people that he is chasing after him.
According to him, “I don’t have a land issue with any traditional doctor. He is a swindler and fraudster, who came to buy land and live in my village. He built a shrine in the village and the villagers said he should remove it. That is the village I have lived for 65-years of my life, and somebody came and bought land two years ago, built a shrine on the road that I opened and now coming to say that I am chasing after him.
“He is an armed robber; in my village there has never been any case of kidnapping before he came and lived there, but today they kidnapped two children and one was found in the compound next to his, and the other one has not been found till today. He went and stole somebody’s tank, the case is with the police. He uses dud cheque to deceive people. Instead of going to the police to answer his case, he is saying that I am chasing him, if I chase him will he stand? I am not the person pursuing him, it’s the law enforcement agency that is pursuing him.”
