Governor Akpabio Doing What He Knows Best, Chief Imeh Umanah we are praying for you.Please Read Carefully And Note That In Akwa Ibom Criminals Dont Go To Jail But The Innocent Do!



Imeh Umanah Arrested and in Detention on the Orders of Governor Akpabio



Sources have confirmed that a prominent son of Akwa Ibom State of Abak extraction, Chief Imeh Umanah, has been arrested and is still in detention on the orders of Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio. This morning Tuesday, November 2, 2010) he appeared before a Magistrate in Uyo charged, among other things, with treason and conspiring with opposition to kill Governor Akpabio. I have been working on this story since 5 a.m. today (November 2, 2010) when I received a telephone call from Uyo regarding the arrest. I have spoken with several people, including a family member of Imeh Umanah, in Abuja, Uyo, and Abak. The following are what I have been able to put together for this story.



Sources said when Chief Imeh Umanah and Governor Akpabio met last week in Abuja, the chief advised Akpabio to refrain from making undemocratic statements in public. For example, people say Chief Imeh Umanah strongly condemned the statement Akpabio made to the media that no opponents will be tolerated in Akwa Ibom State. Other sources have confirmed that for several weeks up until last weekend, Chief Imeh Umanah has been working hard to persuade Governor Akpabio to mend fences with former Senator Akpan Udoedehe for a better campaign that will not end up in bloodshed. Other sources say when the two met in Abuja, an argument ensued regarding a ware-house business, which involved several billions of naira.



After the meeting, Akpabio contacted the SSS in Akwa Ibom State and filed a complaint, which stated that Chief Imeh Umanah has threatened to kill him. The SSS invited the chief for a meeting in Uyo to answer some allegations filed against him by a source, which the SSS refused to disclose to the chief. Confident that he never threatened to kill anyone, on Monday (November 1, 2010), Chief Imeh Umanah boarded a plane in Lagos to Uyo and arrived at 3 p.m. He never bothered to tell anyone that he was in Akwa Ibom State because he intended to return to Lagos the same day. When he got to the SSS office in Uyo, he was put under arrest, stripped of his cellular telephone and other personal items, and detained. Then someone used his telephone to dial governor Akpabio’s number, a threatening text message was sent that Akpabio will be killed.



Today (Tuesday, November 2, 2010), Chief Imeh Umanah was taken to a magistrate court in Uyo. As he waited for his case number to be called, Chief Imeh Umanah managed to whisper to a sympathetic person, who happened to be in the courtroom at the time, and begged the person to tell a family member (name withheld) where he is. The family member immediately rushed to the courthouse. On seeing the condition of Imeh Umanah in shackles and in hand-cuffs, he quickly assembled a team of five lawyers, who were in the court for other matters, to represent the chief. Interestingly, the SSS lawyers and Akpabio’s people did not know that a team of lawyers has been hired to represent the chief.



When Chief Umanah’s case was read, they were surprised to see five lawyers rose up and identified themselves as representing Imeh Umanah. Akpabio’s people and the SSS were stunned. A source said they were stunned because the SSS wanted to use a legal procedure known as “holding charge.” Under this procedure, a suspect, or a defendant, can be detained in custody for a long time or even indefinitely. When Imeh Umanah’s lawyers insisted that the sitting Magistrate must ask for evidence to support the “hold charge” procedure, the SSS and Akpabio’s people had none. The Magistrate is said to have thrown the case out of his court for insufficient evidence.



Sources said Imeh Umanah was then taken back by SSS and placed in detention, where he is now. But, tomorrow (November 3, 2010), according to a very highly placed source, he is scheduled to appear in a High Court in Uyo charged with treason and conspiracy with opposition to kill Governor Akpabio.



I am staying in touch with my sources in Akwa Ibom and I promise to keep you informed of what transpired in the High Court.



Written by

Thompson Essien

The Voice of the Poor Masses

Defender of the Oppressed




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The Arrest of Chief Ime Umana: Latest!



This morning I called my contacts in Uyo to find out what transpired in the High Court, where Chief Ime Umana was scheduled to appear today. I was told that he was not taken to court, after all. Here is why.



Sources said after I broke the story yesterday, Akpabio’s people were very angry that someone had leaked the information. So, the Ministry of Justice, after consulting with Governor Akpabio, decided to drop all the charges against Ime Umana. Later in the afternoon (of yesterday), officials from the office of Attorney General took some papers to the SSS building, where the chief is still being detained, and told him to sign the papers for his release. The Chief refused to even look at the papers, let alone sign the document.



In the evening (of yesterday), after he was informed that the Chief has refused to sign the papers, Akpabio visited him at where he (Ime Umana) is being detained. At the meeting, sources have confirmed that Governor Akpabio apologized to Ime Umana and told him that he has instructed the SSS officials to affect his release. This is what I am told the chief said to Governor Akpabio;

“Governor, I am not going anywhere from here, except to court. I have raised all my children, so I am not in a hurry to rush home. You ordered my arrest; therefore, it is now your burden to explain to me, to my family, to Abak people, to Akwa Ibom people, and to all Nigerians why you ordered my arrest. But, I don’t want your explanation to be a matter of just you and me; the whole world has to hear it too. You have soiled my name by saying that I threatened to kill you. All I did was give you and advice as a father would give a son. If you were my biological son, I would have told you the same thing.”



“Right now, all I want is for my case to go to court because I want my story to escalate. I don’t want money from you and I have never asked you for money. You may be angry with me because I have not been able to attend to any of your State-sponsored functions and other events. But is that a good enough reason for you to soil my name by setting me up for arrest with allegations of making threats to your life? Even if I have to stay here the rest of my life I will. If you want to remove me from here by force, I am ready. If you want my cooperation, then charge me to court where my name will be cleared so that tomorrow, you don’t go around lying to the people why I was detained.”



“And let me repeat here what I told you before, your intimidation tactics to those you perceived as opposition is not working. Do not be deceived that going around arresting those you think are not your supporters is the way to govern a State. It is undemocratic and it is counter-productive. You arrested Ononokpono, you arrested Akpan Udoedehe, and now I am here, in detention. The question is, what have you achieved by ordering all these arrests? And you say you want a second-term? Have you ever paused to find out how the people you govern react to all these arrests? If you did not know, let me tell you; due to all these arrests, you have lost the people and chances are that, unless by some divine intervention, you have already lost the election. And if you think the remedy for you to gain back the trust of the people is to arrest me, then you have miscalculated. I am not going anywhere, except to court. If you have any evidence against me, bring it to the court of law. If you want to apologize to me, come and do it in the court room. If you want to kill me, you might as well do that now because I am not going to remain silent over this matter.”



Sources said after speaking to Akpabio, the Chief left him and returned to his room in the detention center. Now Akpabio does not know what to do. I will continue to keep you informed of future development. For now, believe me, Chief Ime Umana is still in detention.



Written by

Thompson Essien

The Voice of the Poor Masses

Defender of the Oppressed

Social Critic

A native of Ibibio nation of Ubium Republic extraction, now living in the safe and beautiful city of Portland, Oregon, where no AKPF, ADUMA, ADV, and Akwa Ibom State politicians can reach.