The police in Akwa Ibom State have allegedly assaulted and arrested family heads, wives and children in Ikot Isong village in Etinan LGA over the death of a woman in a prayer house.
It was gathered that policemen from Ikotakpan Abia, headquarters of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command, stormed the village at night last week, broke into houses, assaulted and arrested some people, forcing many people to flee the village.
Findings by City & Crime revealed that the clan heads of Nnung Idem, Nnung Ennang, Nnung Itina and a morgue manager were among the people arrested.
It was learnt that an elderly woman from Ibesikpo LGA (said to be mentally ill) travelled to Ikot Isong to meet with a spiritualist, Prophetess Unwa Etok Uko, whose real name is Mrs Oto Okon Udo Ekpo, for prayers, and that she died a few days after arriving the prayer house, which led her children to report the case to the police following the advice of the Village Head, Ete Idung Chief Maurice Isaiah Ikpat.
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Out of fear of an attack, Prophetess Uko was said to have lied to the police that the village youth ganged up and beat up the woman, leading to her death.
In reaction, the police visited the Ete Idung’s house where other village chiefs were summoned for questioning.
An elder in the village, Akpan Obong, said, “The policemen from Ikot Akpan Abia headquarters disguised themselves and returned the following night and picked up some family heads.
“At some houses, they broke either the doors or smashed windows with axes to gain entrance. At Udo Edmund’s house, they beat up his wives, dragged them into their vehicles and arrested his child around 1am.
“We’re all living in fear as they come mostly in the night like armed robbers, beating up and abducting people in the village.”
It was further learnt that though the police released the prophetess, they demanded that the village pay N600,000 to release the detainees.
Reacting to the issue on Tuesday, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Waheed Ayilara, said, “Please give us time to handle the investigation. We have asked our DC Ops to delve into the matter.
“Since there’s an element of human rights, we can assure you that we will handle it lawfully, although the story or allegations seem to have two versions. We will release anyone not culpable in the matter after our investigation.”
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