Joseph Odok|1 December 2015|7:00am
I have not been in doubt that Owan Enoh is a wrong choice for the central senatorial district. I feel
exonerated that I never voted for him nor campaigned for his candidacy.
The story of Owan Enoh is marked by a share smack of arrogance and
intimidation.
Yesterday, I was invited to the criminal and intelligence division of Zone 6 Calabar to answer a petition
against me by Owan Enoh for threat to his life and assassination of character. The petition came from
Inspector General of Police and was forwarded to the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cross River
State. The petition was also forwarded to the Vice Chancellor of Calabar to release me to answer the
said charges. This may be the direction of his petition, maybe as a way to work for the termination of my appointment.
Being a law abiding citizen, I proceeded to respond to the petition. On reaching there with my team of supporters and journalists, the police were at first trying to play funny, maybe because of the weight
they had hitherto placed on the fact that the petitionemanated from the dishonourable senator. My
supporters from the Buhari Youth Organization led by Comrade Okan Ogiri Egbe and four journalists were initially threatened with arrest but not for one of the policeman that recognized the journalists in their midst and began acting respectfully and in accordance of the law.
On reaching there, the said petition was handed to me. The basis of the petition was on the article I wrote challenging our law makers not to be a lawbreaker and warning the senator to stop threatening the life of innocent citizens, especially
that of my client, Thomas Ifere.
Before my article, my client, Thomas Ifere had briefed me of the intimidation of the people of Etara/
Ekuri by the arrogant senator. The people of Etara/ Ekuri according to my client had given a large portion of land to Owan Enoh as a grant. Being the devil, Owan Enoh surreptitiously met one Hon. Oku-
Okan, Esther Oyama, and Chief Ifere to sign contract of sale.
It is worthy of note that initially, the
community gave Owan Enoh the parcel of land in consideration for the repair of their road and other
developmental consideration. Being the greedy, Owan Enoh shifted focus from the consideration of the people and began his selfish mission of logging wood and converting the forest to a cocoa farm. The breach in keeping to agreement led a concerned citizen Thomas Ifere to petition the greedy opportunistic senator to governor Ayade Benedict calling for investigation of the activities of Owan Enoh. To date no known attention was given to the petition of my client Mr. Thomas Ifere. Rather Mr Thomas Ifere was threatened. In response to the
threat to his life, my client made a public report of his threat in social media and and in his brief to me.
Being the social activist I am, I used the information to challenge our law maker from being a law breaker and warning him to stop threatening the life of his constituents. According to Owan Enoh's petition, my article on
"Our law makers must not be law breakers: A Note of Warning to Owan Enoh" attracted calls from from people inclusive of Chief Okoi Obono-obla . This in the paucity of the dishonourable senator's mind
amounted to defamation of character and threat to his life.
Come to think of it how can a mere advised based on a brief from a client amount to threat to life and assassination of character? This showed the emptiness in the appreciation of issues by Owan
Enoh and goes further to define him. The burden is in the dishonourable senator to prove and this must
be done without reasonable doubt.
It is worthy of note that my client had further briefed me that his wife has been sacked from her job and even his job has been seriously threatened because of the petitions the dishonourable senator has been writing against him. Could a senator
descend so low as to seek that his constituents be terminated from job? Could a senator be seen to
prop up false allegations against his constituents? Only time shall flush the arrogance of the dishonourable senator.
It is to be recalled that the dishonourable senator headed the budget and appropriation committee in the federal House of Representative. The Revenue
Mobilization and Fiscal Commission was a creation of this committee. Till date the dishonourable senator could not influence the employment of any
Crossriverian into the commission. Why should a dishonourable senator that had failed us in creating employment for our teaming unemployed youth be seen seeking the termination of the employment of his constituent only to service his intimidating ego and arrogance?
We must rise to say no to the crop of opportunistic leaders that use our mandate to continually oppress
and intimidate us. In line with Ray Ugba Morphy submission we must begin to enforce the koboko style of calling our leaders to accountability for their stewardship.
Criminal proceedings are not instigated in proxy. The police will look for a date comfortable to me and Owan Enoh to meet were he will be required to proof his case. Stay tuned and enjoy the events as they
unfold
Joseph Odok
Is a Social Activists, Social Critic,
Political Analyst & Friend of the oppressed
