The reckless use of state funds by Chief Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom to bribe the largely impoverished indigenes of the state turned bloody yesterday as five students died in a fracas that ensued at the bribery fest in public glare at the government house in Uyo.
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The reckless use of state funds by Chief Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom to bribe the largely impoverished indigenes of the state turned bloody yesterday as five students died in a fracas that ensued at the bribery fest in public glare at the government house in Uyo.
The students died as they scampered to share the N15 million naira bribe money while several of them sustained serious injuries. The chaos was complicated by the involvement of security agents on duty as they too engaged in the struggle for free cash.
SaharaReporters gathered that the Akwa Ibom state government house has turned into a Mecca of sorts for the over 3,500 support groups engaged in praise singing for Akpabio. these hired crowds throng the seat of power for cash disbursements aimed at buying the gubernatorial election since the governor flagged off his re-election campaign recently.
Akpabio had bussed over 5000 undergraduates of tertiary institutions in the state from University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Asura and Uyo City Polytechnic to create an appearance of popularity and youth support in the April governorship election.
however, the situation got out of hand at Government House when most of the students realized that the coordinators of the bribe reserved N5 million for themselves from the N15 million booty Akpabio had made available to them for the bribe fest.
State government officials mostly from the protocol unit of the Government House and security men on guard duties responsible for coordinating the whole sharing exercise snatched and disappeared with the bribe money during the fracas.
The disappearance of the bribe money sparked off wider protests that saw students barricading the entrance to Government House which later escalated to a riot and confrontation with security operatives who had called for reinforcement after making away with the money.
Reacting to the clash between security men and students over money , Aniekan Umanah, Information Commissioner of Akwa Ibom state on Friday announced that henceforth the venue of such ‘solidarity visits’ shall be shifted to the PDP secretariat located on Ikot Ekpene road in Uyo.
“Henceforth, shows of solidarity and political processions among others are not allowed within and around the Government House premises,” Umanah said in a statement.
The statement urged individuals and interest groups, including student bodies, to direct matters concerning the ongoing campaign to the PDP secretariat and Akpabio’s campaign office.
SaharaReporters had revealed that Akpabiois one of the governors identified as the major financier of the Goodluck Jonathan election campaign according to a letter of appreciation exposed by SaharaReporters recently.
In the early life of his regime, SaharaReporters had exposed Akpabio's penchant for using state funds to give bribes as we provided a trail of his purchase and delivery of a brand new, a Mercedes Benz GL 450 Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) to the EFCC chairperson, Mrs. Farida Waziri.
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