The family of the Village Head of Ikot Ese in Oruk Anam Local Government Area has petitioned the Akwa Ibom Commissioner of Police over the where about of their husband and father, Chief Aniekan Thompson Obonoh.
The 50 year old man is said to have been taken by his nephew, one Hon Friday Obonoh, a former Councillor in Oruk Anam Local Government Area and one-time Aide to the former Secretary of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
Our correspondent gathered that the said Hon Obonoh has been in police detention for an alleged kidnapping and murder case.
A daughter to the Village Head, Emem Thompson Obonoh in a petition to the Commissioner of Police captioned, ARREST OF ONE HON FRIDAY OBONOH – AN APPEAL TO RELEASE MY FATHER, CHIEF ANIEKAN THOMPSON OBONOH pleaded with the Commissioner of Police to use his good offices and ask “Hon Friday Obonoh, who we learnt is in your custody to release our husband, father, uncle, cousin and brother, Chief Aniekan Thompson Obonoh, aged 50 years.”
“Chief Aniekan Thompson Obonoh is Hon Friday Obonoh’s uncle. He had a slight malaria attack sometimes in 2013 and we were happy when Hon Friday Obonoh, his nephew, came to the village and offered to take him to the hospital for treatment. One of the children wanted to follow him but he, Hon Friday Obonoh, objected with the argument that he (our father) was in safe hands.
“But Sir, since then till today, we have not heard anything about our husband and father. Our mother, of 75 years, has been having sleepless nights resulting in several medical complications that have eaten deep into the family’s lean finances. On many occasions, when we ask Hon Friday Obonoh of the health condition and or where about of our husband and father, he will always tell us that he is fine.
“Sir, we are so worried because as a Village Head, our husband and father is supposed to take care of his wife and children as well as conduct the affairs of the village and represent it at various fora but his absence has impacted negatively not only on the welfare of the family but the village and local government at large,” she stated.
The petitioner further said that “sometimes in 2014, we were told that Hon Friday Obonoh ‘killed our husband and father and used his body for ritual purposes,’ a story that we still believe is a fairly-tale. All efforts from the family to persuade Hon Friday Obonoh to return our husband and father or his corpse for proper burial have proved abortive. He always threatened to use his resources and connections to deal with our mother and anybody in the family who dare ask him to return our husband and father to his home.”
The petition which has been copied to the state governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, the Inspector-General of Police, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Zone 6, Calabar, the State Director of SSS, the member for Ukanafun/Oruk Anam Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, the member for Oruk Anam State Constituency and the Paramount Ruler of Oruk Anam Local Government Area, among others prayed that “it is our sincere hope now that Hon Friday Obonoh is in your custody, that you will please use your good offices to help us have our husband and father from him.”