It was a chaotic scene in Abak last Monday as hoodlums vandalized the food palliative sent by Governor Umo Eno for distribution to the people of Abak through the government bulk purchase agency.
The exercise which took off peacefully turned chaotic when the people who came out in good number were unable to access the food palliatives after waiting under the scorching sun since morning with their food vouchers.
Tempers began to fray when Hon. Aniekan Umanah, a stakeholder of the local government gave a matching order for the distribution to be suspended and ordered the driver to drive away the truck with the palliatives, blaming his constituents for their failure to organize themselves orderly for a seamless exercise. This decision was swiftly resisted by the youths who alledged an attempt by their leaders to divert the palliatives to an unknown destination.
The aggrieved youths barricaded the entrance of the council secretariat with motorcycles and locked the council secretariat gate to prevent the driver of the palliatives truck from leaving the secretariat. The youths latter vandalise the truck and remove food palliatives causing a stampede as people struggled for a share of the items.
Reacting to the development, Hon.(Barr.) Patrick Udomfang the Managing Director/CEO of Akwa Ibom Property and Investments Company (APICO) attributed the chaos that ensued to an attempt by the Personal Assistant to the governor from various political wards in the local government to hoard the food items that was meant for the people.
According to him, “the exercise started seamlessly peaceful from 10 am, people queued up for accreditation up to about 3pm when we discovered that the PAs to the governor were hoarding vouchers. We discovered that the PAs did not consult with the ward elders on the distribution of the vouchers, they came with people, hoarded vouchers, the team from Uyo discovered that 15 bags of rice were packed somewhere and then another 15 bags of rice. So we asked: ‘who owns these?’ They responded: ‘the PA of Otoro and the PA of Abak1’ so we stopped the sharing. My self, Hon. Aniekan Umanah and Hon. Sam Akpan the team leader confronted the PAs and asked them if they had consulted the elders, they responded: ‘No’, the same resport was gotten from all the wards. They were still having bulks of cards in their hands, so sharing was stopped, it is in that process that rowdiness started.”
He bemoaned that the PAs failed to work with the elders from their wards to achieve a seamless exercise.
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“So, the entire process started peacefully and lovely, that is why we came to stay and look at it but it is very sad that because of the selfish attitude of the PAs to the governor who refused to consult with the elders and give the vouchers to the vulnerable. The whole crowd was staying without cards, it is in that process that that sharing was stopped and then ordered them to share the cards properly. It is in that process that the rowdiness started and the ‘area boys’ came in, vandalise the truck and remove the food items” he noted with dismay.
Barr. Udomfang, who expressed his appreciation to the governor for such gesture of goodwill however called on the appropriate authority to reprimand them for sabotaging the governor’s effort to bring succour to the people through the exercise.
” I want to tell the good people of Abak that the Governor had a good intension for the good people of Abak, about 5000 bags of both rice, beans and garri were brought in here. That is why we left our offices, my humble self, Hon. Aniekan Umanah and the Chairman of Abak L.G.A. to come and monitor the exercise. We were standing here monitoring the exercise, It is okay, our people knows that the governor has done his best. The little lapses came from the PAs to the governor and they need to be reprimanded and cautioned so that in the next event, they should not take decision unilaterally. They should consult with the elders of the ward so that we will not experience what has happened,” he said.
Responding to the allegation, the Personal Assistant to Governor Umo Eno from Abak Urban Ward1, Mr Ukeme Nya, who spoke with this reporter through a telephone conversation, denied any attempt to hoard the people’s vouchers or food palliatives meant for the people.
According to him, “my duty was to distribute the vouchers to the people which their names were written in them after they were stamped and approved. Then the people will queue up and get their food palliatives. That was exactly what I did and those vouchers were truly distributed after they were stamped and approved. It was just left for them to go and take their food, you would not expect me to go and collect food for the people. I cannot do that, my duty was to give the vouchers to the people and the people will now inturn get the voucher and take their food. The only thing that I observed there was that tempers were getting very frayed when they shut the truck. Why would they order the truck to be shut while the people were still queuing up to collect their food?”
Also, expressing his frustration on the way the exercise was handled, one of the PDP faithfuls at the grassroots, Mr. Aniebiet Willie from Utu Edem Akai, Ward4/5 who was a two-term ward executive said he was disappointed as a grassroots mobilizer for PDP over the failure of the leaders of the party to properly conduct the exercise inline with their promise.
Hear him: “I am very frustrated with the way the exercise is handled, if my ward leaders who are the PA to the governor Mrs Ekaette Sunday and ward councillor Aniedi Effiong Udofia could tell me to coordinate people from unit 008/014 and bring them here but they hijacked the whole process and left the people stranded, they have not done well.
