By Frank Ulom
CALABAR (CONVERSEER) – The Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Cross River State Chapter, HY Nurse Emmanuel Olayi, has clarified that the attack on him and members of the council in Obanliku last month was not political as many are insinuating.
Olayi disclosed this on Monday in a media chat with selected journalists in Calabar, the state capital.
According to him, the incident that happened at the end of August, which left him unconscious, was carried out by members of a group identified as JTF (not related to the security joint task force).
He said that when the attack was carried out, he never saw or heard the name of any political party, be it APC, PDP, YPP, ADC, etc.
“People give different pictures to different things. I didn’t show up there representing a political party, and the group of people who came attacking didn’t raise any political flag, to say, ‘I am from XYZ party.’ The picture I saw was that of an individual who has the right of association and has not bothered to look at the law to know his limit. The only thing I heard was, ‘This is JTF,’ I didn’t hear APC, PDP, YPP, ADC…,” Olayi said.
Narrating the full story, he said, “Last month, I came to the realisation that we, as a council, should take a break and ask ourselves some pertinent questions as executives, and the choice place was Obanliku, where we have the Ranch.
“Even with limited resources, we approached our chapter in Obanliku that we’re coming to the local government area for a break, they accepted, and the destination was the Cattle Ranch. We proceeded on the journey on 29th August.
“We got to Obanliku successfully, and other council leaders from the Central and North joined us.
“In the course of the journey, I got a notification that there will be a tour of His Excellency the Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Peter Odey, so we decided to add it to our programme to do a tour of the 5 local government areas in the North, and while we did that, we felt that when the authorities are going close to the people, they will create opportunities for young people to make their requests.
“The first tour was in Yala, which was successful and the next was Obanliku. So, we joined them at Sankwala (the local government headquarters), and then to Bendi ward, still in Obanliku, where one of our youths was interrupted when he wanted to speak. I rose up to his defence and he made a request for job placement for the youths and His Excellency immediately responded, promising 30 additional job slots for the youths of Obanliku in the ongoing employment.
“After the rally, the member representing Obudu/Bekwarra/Obanliku Federal Constituency, Hon. Peter Akpanke, invited us for a reception at his place, after which we left for the Ranch, for the purpose of our main business, even though the activities were still ongoing.
“I, my Deputy and others were walking down the place where the event was hosted, and one of our vehicles, a bus, was ahead of us while I was to join the second vehicle.
“Coincidentally, I saw a gentleman by Barrister Umar Akpanke, whom I knew back in the university. So, as I was walking to exchange pleasantries with him, I saw a certain man who was with him there with a bottle of beer. He came down from the bike and was hitting so hard on the bus conveying some other gentlemen who came with me from Calabar.
“I quickly ran to Umar to call his attention because I saw the guy leaving his presence, and there was no blockade of any sort. So, as I was speaking with Barrister Umar about these people being with me, he left me, and at that time, the driver of the bus cleared and came down from the vehicle to assess the impact. Umar Akpanke went straight to the driver and hit him on his eye, and the next thing I could hear was, ‘Don’t you know that there is JTF in this community?’
“I went to intervene, and the same man (hitting the bus) who was later identified as Oyinbo was the first to come hard on me, to the left side of my chest, that I could not even help myself. It had a heavy impact on me. Before we could realise, the whole place was populated, and we struggled to come out of the environment with my team losing their phones, wallets, wristwatches and other items.
“We then met some security personnel and pleaded with them to help those still at the scene. At that point, my pain was more severe, and the next thing was seeing myself in a hospital bed.
“Instead of reaching out to apologise, Umar went and painted a picture that showed thugs coming to his community, not to allow him into his house, and one of the messages put out there was that ‘The Youths Chairman came out of the vehicle, removed his clothes and started fighting.’ All of those things are erroneous.
“While at the hospital, his community and the Clan Head tried reaching out to me. The said Oyinbo ran out of the community as reported, but Umar was held back by the Bendi Community, who notified the Nigeria Police, and he was arrested and detained at the Divisional Police in Obanliku, where he spent two days. It was alleged that Umar Akpanke is the Chairman of the JTF while Oyinbo is his PA (personal assistant).
“I was later invited to the station when I became strong, and I went and gave my statement and the matter was moved to the Area Command. When I got to the Divisional Police Station, some of the exhibits presented by the same Umar were some of the properties that were looted at the scene, including a phone, a power bank, and a few other items, but many others were still missing.
“At the Divisional Police, Umar started begging and crying, but it was not within my powers at that point to let him go.
“The matter was moved to the Area Command, where he spent another two days before it was further moved to the State Command in Calabar on the request of the Commissioner of Police.
“Before then, I heard the community, the Clan Head, came begging and his father fainted several times, and I had to sit with my team to look at an alternative means of resolution.
“We started calling the Area Command to come back to see how we can explore other options, one of which is to see how the gentleman can pledge to be of good conduct. He even promised to publish an apology in the national dailies within 24 hours if I wanted him to.
“As a team, we have forgiven him. We decided to let it slide after five days, and the matter is now with the state (police).”
Olayi said he did not know the reason(s) behind Akpanke’s action.
Also adding his voice, Comrade Melchisezek David, PRO 1, NYCN-CRS, alleged that the community attested to Akpanke’s wrongdoing.
“When we went to the police station, the man who came in his (Akpanke) defence, and the Clan Head, did not deny his wrongdoing. They said he is a fan of carrying out such acts in the community,” David claimed.
Disclosing some of the results of the tour, the NYCN-CRS Chairman said, “At the end of the tour, I was allowed to address the state because the Deputy Governor was representing the Governor, which necessitated him to request an audience with the entire youths in Cross River North, and we met and several issues were treated.”
He also disclosed a Youth Converge coming up on 17th September, where youths across the three Senatorial Districts of the State will meet to discuss the way forward in terms of development, employment, innovation, health care, education, security, among others.
Earlier, Comr. Ushie Bartholomew Orlando, SA on Youths Orientation to Governor Bassey Otu, described the attack on Olayi and his team as undermining the very fabric of Cross River Northern Senatorial District and the State at large.
“It is on that note, we demand that the leadership of NYCN Obanliku LGA Chapter, conduct a thorough and expedited investigation into the incident, unearth the root cause, and get back to the public with a comprehensive report within 48 hours.
“Moreso, if it happens that the said Umar Akpanke is truly behind the incident, then he is expected to tender an unreserved, open apology for his alleged role in the attack, acknowledging the gravity of his actions within the shortest while before other actions follow.
“Failure to comply with these directives will be met with severe consequences, commensurate with the gravity of the situation,” the statement by Ushie read.
Efforts to reach out to Barrister Akpanke for comments proved abortive at the time of filing this report.
