By Uduak EKANEM
Akwa Ibom APC’s Warsaw advocate and embattled former governor of Akwa Ibom state, Senator Godswill Akpabio got a damning verdict on Friday from the Catholic Bishop of Ikot Ekpene Diocese, His Lordship, Most Rev Dr Cammilius Umoh, who described Akpabio’s alleged arming of thugs, stockpiling of arms and illegal arrest and detention of perceived political opponents for the 2019 elections as a disgrace to the Catholic Church.
In a telephone conversation between the clergy and Akpabio, Bishop Umoh who hails from Okon clan in Essien Udim LGA alongside the Senator, berated the former governor for heating up the polity in the build up to the 2019 election.
“The Bishop was alarmed when he was informed by Abak people that Senator Akpabio and DIG Ekpoudom turned a school premises at Tower of Ivory in Abak into a bunker where arms and ammunitions as well as thugs were kept. He felt it was a desecration of an institution meant to groom the younger generation into responsible citizens and felt the desperation was not healthy for both the society and the Church” said a source.
Bishop Umoh was alleged to have told Akpabio that his actions and utterances have become a source of embarrassment to the Church, warning that he stands being excommunicated from the Church if his action leads to bloodshed during the election.
“Are you not tired of killing? Are you not tired of being attributed to political crisis and bloodletting in the state? Are you not tired of being accused of making women widows and children orphans? Why on earth should you convert a school premises into an armoury in the name of politics? Why do you go about creating bad blood between you and people who once held you in high esteem? Was this what we were known for as Annang people?”, an angy Bishop Umoh was alleged to have asked Akpabio on the phone.
The former governor was alleged to have denied the allegations, blaming the accusations on his opponents.
“Godswill don’t lie to me. Your Excellency, just as you have access to privileged information and intelligence by virtue of your office, I also am privy to information of what is happening in the society but sadly, am not proud of what am told you are doing in the name of politics”, he told Akpabio.
A source said, the Catholic Bishop though an ally of Akpabio, became furious when a Catechist from one of the parishes in Essien Udim LGA, informed the Bishop of a secret location the former governor was stockpiling arms meant to be used to unleash violence during the election.
“The proofs were incontrovertible and just less than 10 minutes after he left, a widow came to complain to the Bishop that his son (name withheld) was kidnapped on Friday night by unknown gunmen on his way back from a political meeting and driven to Akpabio’s residence in Ukana in a black tinted gas Toyota Hilux van with the number plate covered where he is being detained, soliciting for the Bishop’s help to get her son released”.
The former Senate Minority Leader was alleged to have denied the allegations. Akpabio was advised by the Bishop to thread with caution in his approach and relationship with his perceived political opponents so as not to put himself in a more precarious situation after the election.
