President Muhammadu Buhari has sent his best wishes to all Nigerians and Muslims across the globe as they mark the Eid Al Fitr following the completion of a month of fasting.
In a message he personally signed, President Buhari said:
“On this blessed occasion, I wish that the Eid festival brings with it peace, safety, security, brotherhood and love amongst all.
“Unity and solidarity among all citizens, Muslims and Christians are imperative especially at a time when our country is faced with multiple challenges which are surmountable only when we come together as one.
“It is important that we remember how we share, through our faiths, common bonds that should serve to unite us and not allow ourselves to succumb to those who seek to divide us, using our two great religions, for their own selfish advantages.
“We should jointly pray against the tragic incidents of kidnapping and banditry and the desperate quest for political power expressed through blackmail against the existence of our country as a united entity.
“We must resist the temptation to retreat into our communities. I urge our political and religious leaders as well as traditional rulers to encourage our citizens to turn towards one another in love and compassion.”
According to the President, it is noteworthy and delightful to see Christians breaking fast and in some instances, extending goodwill and gifts to Muslim faithfuls during the Ramadan.
“This model also shone through with Muslim groups joining Christian festivities. These are practices that promote brotherhood and forgiveness,” he said.
President Buhari also Urged Nigerians to continue to observe all COVID-19 prevention measures and celebrate responsibly during the holidays.
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has directed its members to shut down services in Kaduna State with effect from May 16.
NUPENG’s General Secretary, Mr Afolabi Olawale, gave the directive in a letter addressed to Petroleum Tanker Drivers branch of NUPENG on Wednesday.
Olawale said compliance with the directive was necessary for the successful execution of the campaign against the alleged anti-labour practices of Kaduna state governor.
The directive was given following the sack of over 4,000 workers in the state.
Kaduna State NLC Chairman, Mr Ayuba Suleiman, had said that the decision was taken during an emergency meeting in Kaduna with a delegation from the NLC national headquarters.
The NLC had directed workers in the state to totally withdraw services for five days with effect from May 16, 2021.
The union had accused the state government of ignoring due process in the recent disengagement of over 4,000 workers from local governments, state basic education board, and Primary Health Care Agency.
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has dissolved state’s Executive Council, and sacked 20 of the 27 commissioners in the cabinet.
The governor however, retained eight commissioners.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Owerri on Wednesday.
He said the dissolution was to restructure the governor’s administration to further achieve his numerous projects of the 3R of Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, and Recovery agenda.
Emelumba said the eight commissioners that were retained included information and Strategy, Works, Finance, Health and Youths.
Others were Tourism, Technology and Women Affairs.
According to him, the governor wants to rejig his administration and soon he will reconstitute his cabinet to further achieve his agenda for Imo people,” he said.
The Nigerian Police Command have suspended till further notice, special protection for political office holders and very important persons in some states in the South-East and South-South.
Officers have been ordered not to accompany their principals to Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers States until the security situation improved in the areas.
The directive follows the increasing attacks on security operatives and formations in the South-East and part of South-South zones by suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra.
The directive was contained in a wireless message with reference CB: 0900/DTS/DOPS/VOL.47/812X, titled, ‘Attack on policemen, snatching of rifles by IPOB,’ issued by the Commissioner of Police, Asaba, Delta State.
The signal was copied to the Chief Security Officer, Government House, Chief Superintendent of Police, Department of Operations, Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, Delta State House of Assembly, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation annex, among others.
The wireless message read, “Sequel to the incessant attacks on policemen and snatching of arms and ammunition by the proscribed IPOB/ESN (Eastern Security Network) elements in the eastern states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and Rivers, COMPOL DOPS directs you warn personnel that escort of their principals to the six eastern states is suspended forthwith until security situation improves. Ensure strict compliance, please.’’
Police spokesman, Frank Mba, who confirmed the directive, said ‘’If unknown gunmen as you people normally put it, numbering like 12 or 20 launch an attack on an escort of two men, surely they will overwhelm them because they will outnumber you and outgun you. This is the issue the directive was trying to cure.’’
Since December 2020, about 12 police stations have been attacked and burned while more than 40 security personnel have been killed by gunmen and firearms stolen in the South-East and South-South regions.
A former senator in the second republic, Prof. Banji Akintoye, has has claimed that the entire south-west region has been surrounded by terrorists.
Akintoye, who is the leader of Ilana Omo Oodua, the umbrella body for Yoruba self-determination groups, says the “terrorists were ready to strike any moment from now.”
He made the claims in a statement issued on Wednesday by his media aide, Mr Maxwell Adeleye urged south-west governors to start making moves to repel the planned attacks.
“A combination of Fulani terrorists, Boko Haram and ISIS, have occupied Niger State, which is immediately north of Yorubaland, thereby providing for themselves very easy access into Yorubaland through the Yoruba parts of Kwara and Kogi states.”
“Then recently, the US issued a statement that ISIS had infiltrated Southern Nigeria from the sea, meaning that the coast of Lagos, Ogun and Ondo states have been infiltrated.
“Our situation has thus become desperate and requires desperate actions from our state governors. I feel obliged to devote much attention to the study of our Yoruba nation’s vicissitudes in these terrible times and from such studies, I am hereby raising an informed alarm to the governors of our states.
“I humbly and passionately urge our governors to come together to give the needed response to the danger that threatens to engulf Yorubaland in, most probably, the next few days.
“It is very well known that the signature action of these foreign terrorist organisations is to first destroy prominent assets of the society that they attack. That could mean that major public and private buildings in Lagos and Ibadan, particularly the hugely symbolic Cocoa House in Ibadan, would be their immediate targets.
“Owners and custodians of significant edifices in Yorubaland are strongly advised to establish formidable security for their edifices. These include bridges, important public and private buildings, churches and such eminent church estates as the Redeemed, Winners, Deeper Life, Mountain of Fire Church camps and the unique Synagogue building of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, and even our most prestigious central mosque buildings in Lagos, Ibadan and our other cities.” he said.
Akintoye in the statement also advised the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye; Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners’ Chapel; and other church and Islamic leaders to protect their churches and mosques from being attacked.
Unknown gunmen again burned a rented divisional police station in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, killing one police officer.
The officer, identified as police constable Edogi Bassey, was killed by the hoodlums during an exchange of fire in a desperate attempt to repel them.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Odiko Macdon, who confirmed the attack in a statement in Uyo on Wednesday, said the hoodlums drove into the station in two vehicles loaded with dangerous weapons, including AK-47 rifles, and opened fire.
The statement read in part, “At about 6:30am today, armed men, in their numbers, armed with AK 47 rifles and other dangerous weapons, in two vehicles attacked the rented building housing the Etim Ekpo Area Command and Division.
“The undaunted and vigilant police officers on duty, gallantly fought back, repelled them and averted the intended carnage. Unfortunately, a dedicated officer, one PC Edogi Bassey, paid the supreme price while a small portion of the building was torched.”
“The gunmen who proceeded to Ika Division to perpetrate their nefarious activities were successfully again repelled, leaving the station intact without loss of lives or arms.” the statement also read.
It also noted that the Commissioner of Police, Andrew Amiengheme, had visited police formations and had called on law abiding citizens to volunteer timely information that would enable the police to tackle the present security challenges in the state.
On the 20th of March, 2021, Jamiu Jibril, a visually impaired student sat to write his Master’s entrance examination at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin. He had an aid who read out the questions and wrote down his answers for him, and like the non-special needs student sitting for the exam, he was given two and half hours.
Throughout Jibril’s academic journey, he has had to depend on the goodwill of other students and his extra-thrust for knowledge to go through school. The University of Ilorin, the same tertiary institution he got his graduate degree from, never provided him with special needs resources.
He remembers going to the university’s center for special students one day and being told “the center was for deaf students, and not the blind. Everything I did, every assistance I got, was on me,” says Jibril.
Like Jibril, special needs students in Nigerian tertiary institutions struggle against myriads of problems in the quest for education.
In a research by Abubakar Ahmed, Zakaria Al-Cheikh Mahmoud Awad, and Mastura Adam; Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria and Kano University of Science and Technology (KUST) were scored 26.7% and 13.3% respectively in their accessibility to the mobility impaired, noting: “Only 272 special schools, homes, centers, and integrated school cater for the education of Special needs children in Nigeria; a country whose Persons living With Disability (PWD) population was put at 19 million. Only 10% of the over 19 million disabled are receiving education in Nigerian educational environment.”
The 272 represents a totality of both special needs institutions, built specifically for special needs students, and seemingly “inclusive” institutions – meaning they provide education for non-special needs and special needs students. But how true is the statement?
In the University of Ibadan, the department of special education is a two-storey building with no ramps or supportive devices for special students other than the auditorily impaired. This makes it hard for students with other forms of disability to move around the building, getting education.
Tola Alli, NewsWire.
“Mobility impaired students have to stick to the lower floors and in unavoidable cases, they have to find someone who can assist them up the stairs”, says Nimi, a student of the department. “Even non-disabled students have issues getting education in the University, imagine what it’s like having a disability with that.”
The presence of PWDs in an institution does not directly translate into true inclusivity. Most institutions lack resources and infrastructure for special needs students. For Jibril, who has visited several institutions while representing his faculty, the University of Jos is the most special needs-friendly institution he’s seen, scoring 50% by his own discretion. “The University of Lagos could be scoring 80%, because they have a lot of resources and infrastructure, but they lack the motive to use these resources.”
A special needs-friendly institution for an auditorily impaired student can still be non-friendly to a mobility impaired, or a visually impaired student.
In the university of Benue, Akin, an auditorily-impaired student struggles in comprehending what is being taught because the university has no audio-to-sign language interpreter.
At the University of Ilorin, Victor, another auditorily impaired student of Computer Science Education faces a different shade of the same problem. The University of Ilorin provides interpreters, “but there are not enough,” says Victor. Citing that this places a lot of stress on the available interpreters. He added, “sometimes, the available interpreter is not familiar with me or the course being taught, [and then] misinterpretations happen.” For him, just as it is for every other student, getting what is being taught right is the tiny margin between a hardworking student and an intelligent one.
The schools have facilities that meet the needs of all learners, such as separate toilets for girls, ramps (not stairs) for learners with physical disabilities and tactile floor guide: NO
“Teachers have high expectations for ALL children, believe they all can learn and encourage them to complete school: NO
Teachers know about the conditions that cause physical, emotional, and learning disabilities; and can help learners to get proper care: NO
Teachers adapt curriculum, lessons, and school activities to the needs of learners with diverse backgrounds and abilities: NO
Teachers adapt curriculum, lessons, and school activities to the needs of learners with diverse backgrounds and abilities: NO
Learners are involved to actively participate and develop guidelines/rules in the school to improve inclusion, reduce discrimination, violence and abuse: NO”.
In place of the margin between literate and non-literate PWDs in Nigeria, the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) implemented a policy encouraging institutions to make 10% of their population PWDs, “but I can assure you that’s not the reality,” says Jibril.
In 2016, it also introduced the National Policy on Inclusive Education, which aimed to provide education to everyone. Promising to “offer a quality education for all while respecting diversity”. The policy defined itself as “about removing barriers to learning and involving all learners who otherwise would have been excluded through marginalization and segregation.”
But most of these policies are lost in transition, not being translated into actions.
“There’s a need for more inclusivity policies, but more need for the enforcing of already existing policies. There’s a need for institutions to improve on their inclusivity.” says Dr. Azubike Onuora-Oguno, a Teaching Research Fellow on Human Rights Law and Society at the International Institute of Social Sciences, Netherlands. And a senior project manager of the Disability Law Advocacy Project – an Open Society Initiative of West Africa (OSIWA) project aimed to make academic curriculums in Nigerian Universities special needs friendly.
The majority of problems come from the government, but the public has a part to play too. “We all have an obligation to accommodate PWDs, but this can’t happen until we understand the concept. Parents, people have to understand that PWDs are humans, meant to be acknowledged as such,” says Dr. Azuibike. “Generally, there’s a need for deep-seated sensitization that will make us act reasonably towards PWDs.”
“We need understanding, EMPATHY, not SYMPATHY,” types Abiola Dada, a special needs student at the University of Ilorin.
Jibril is a broadcaster at Royal FM, Ilorin, and when Jibril isn’t busy with work or academics, he tutors other students in his Faculty. “On most days, the university is crowded. There’s the bus fight, students literally gnawing their way through the queue. What happens to me? Do I sleep in school?” Asks Jibril.
On Friday April 29, a 26 year-old lady set out around 1PM to attend a job interview in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Having recently completed her university program despite losing both parents, she was looking for a way to support herself before being called up for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program.
Instead of a job interview and hope for the future however, what she would actually encounter on that day would become one of the most shocking stories to ever emerge from Nigeria.
Y'all my friend @HinyHumoren is in trouble and she needs our help. I'm currently in Lagos and I can't help than to put this out there. Earlier today she told me she was going for a job interview at airport road which is quite far from her house. pic.twitter.com/X1YBLUPO7d
Iniobong “Hiny” Umoren became the subject of a desperate nationwide search led by Nigerian Twitter users after her friend Umoh Uduak put out an urgent appeal. She was eventually found, but unfortunately the worst had already happened. The police would later confirm that she was found dead, having been raped, murdered and then buried in a shallow grave.
In the wake of a crowdsourced social media sleuthing campaign which uncovered his identity, a primary suspect Frank Uduak Ezekiel Akpan was also arrested.
In a manner completely uncharacteristic of Nigeria’s elephant-paced justice system, the Akwa Ibom State Police Command rapidly announced that it had extracted a confession from Akpan, and even identified his motive – he was a serial rapist and serial killer acting alone. End of story and job done.
Naturally, this neat explanation did not satisfy many, who felt that Akpan could not have acted alone, and that the police might be involved in some kind of a cover up to protect powerful people potentially implicated. Rumours also began swirling about Hiny’s family receiving death threats, and the suspect allegedly boasting about being well-connected.
Beyond the whispers however, there has been precious little to substantiate the idea that stringing up Frank Akpan alone would not represent any kind of justice for Hiny Umoren. Sources willing to speak up and provide information about this case have generally not been forthcoming.
Until now.
Game Changing Information
Every telephone conversation made via a GSM telephone line has a permanent record with the mobile service provider, which by law cannot be tampered with or erased. The information captured can vary, but it always includes the following elements: the date and time the interaction was initiated; the type of interaction (voice or SMS); the length of the interaction; the number initiating the interaction; the number receiving the interaction and the location of the closest cell towers to both parties.
Some networks also record the actual conversation (voice note), and depending on the type of signal band and mobile device, it is even possible to capture the exact location of both parties, accurate to within a few metres. Anyone who can get their hands on the call data from Frank Akpan’s line would very quickly be able to establish whether he was in fact acting alone – which is where my source came in handy.
Understandably, this information is meant to be impossible to access without law enforcement authorisation. With this in mind, I have taken the extra precaution of reproducing it manually via a spreadsheet, so as to protect my source by removing all possible identifying information. Over the course of several hours last week, I pored over several days worth of leaked call data from Frank Akpan’s mobile provider to make sense of the situation.
What will be presented in this story is the closest thing that exists to objective evidence that:
1.) Frank Akpan is being used to take the fall for much bigger fish involved in Hiny Umoren’s murder; and
2.) While Frank Akpan is certainly the primary suspect and was directly involved in the murder, there are other participants in the murder still walking free, while the Akwa Ibom Police Command intentionally bungles what should be an open and shut investigation.
Who is Frank Akpan?
Apart from a few tidbits pieced together from social media accounts about him, very little is known about Frank Akpan the primary suspect. The timeline to his arrest begins late in the afternoon on April 29, when Umoh puts out Hiny’s number hoping someone will be able to track down her friend’s location.
The mention of “Frank Akpan” as a central figure in this story begins with this tweet from Umoh which identifies the owner of the Airtel number +2348127530092 as the person who invited Hiny for the supposed interview.
A quick check with Truecaller brings up the name “Ezekiel Akpan.” Curiously, the occupation tag on this person’s Truecaller profile reads “Political.” It is important to bear in mind that Truecaller fills an individual’s ‘name’ and ‘occupation’ fields by pulling high quality data from several sources including Facebook profile information and analysis of the individual’s Facebook friend networks – so this tiny detail will become significant later on.
Shortly after finding himself under instant national scrutiny following Umoh’s tweet, Akpan then attempts to throw the public off the scent with the Facebook post below. In so doing, he inadvertently confirms that the telephone number in question is actually his, thereby proving that “Uduak Frank Akpan” and “Ezekiel Akpan” are the same person.
Shortly thereafter, he deactivates his Facebook profile and seemingly goes silent until the Akwa Ibom State Police Command issues a statement 3 days later, confirming his arrest and effectively pronouncing him guilty of the crime as a sole suspect.
Frank Uduak Ezekiel Akpan
So far, based on the version of the story that is in official circulation, there is only Frank Akpan and the unfortunate Hiny Umoren. The police have declared him a serial rapist – and hence a single actor. Officially, the issue is over and there is nothing more to see here. It was just a horrible monster and a woman who unfortunately fell victim under the most heartbreaking circumstances.
The only counter-story so far boils down to a few unsubstantiated social media rumours that cannot stand in court, plus what would otherwise be compelling evidence from Akpan’s crime scene, which unfortunately has now been contaminated and rendered all but useless for the purpose of a criminal investigation.
Uduak Frank Akpan specialized in luring and kidnapping job seekers, youth Corp members, students and pupils, killing them, cutting off their sensitive parts, bury them in shallow graves then exhume their bones after decaying to sell off for more rituals#JusticeForHinyUmorenpic.twitter.com/BeexbP11wf
— Doctör Penking™ ???? Peter Obi (@drpenking) May 7, 2021
By deliberate malfeasance or by incompetence, the Akwa Ibom State Police Command has allowed key evidence from Akpan’s hideout potentially pointing to a larger conspiracy, to be trampled underfoot by hundreds of curious onlookers and social media content creators. In so doing, the evidence to build a case for anything other than a standalone Frank Akpan conviction has been destroyed or rendered inadmissible.
There is however, one type of evidence that cannot be physically destroyed or tampered with in any way. This evidence has a permanent digital record which sits in cloud storage away from the incompetence or malfeasance of the Nigeria Police Force, and what it shows without a shadow of doubt is that Frank Akpan did not act alone.
Leaked Network Records: The Smoking Gun
To properly understand and contextualise the data that you are about to see below, a little explainer is in order. As mentioned earlier, the 6 categories of telephone interaction data always recorded by service providers are call date and time, originating number, receiving number, type of interaction (call or SMS), length of interaction (in seconds) and the originating/receiving cell tower.
Every cell tower on earth has a unique location code written in this format: MCC (Mobile Country Code)-MNC (Mobile Network Code)-LAC (Location Area Code)-CellID. Nigeria’s mobile country code is 621, and its 4 largest network providers MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9Mobile have the respective MNCs 30, 50, 20 and 60. Using this information alongside the LAC and CellID provided in the call records below, you can pinpoint the exact cell tower closest to where the call in question was made or received.
For example, if the given MCC is 621, the MNC is 20 (Airtel), the LAC is 00784, and the CellID is 20565, you can put this information into free public access cell site locators like cell2gps.com and the result will be a cell tower site in Uyo at the junction of Ikot-Ekpene road and Ikpa Road.
This is actual cell site data from a call made by Frank Akpan at 6.50PM on April 29, 2021
That being said, it is time to examine the leaked call record data and draw our conclusions. First, here is data I extracted from what my source provided, showing the significant parts of Frank Akpan’s call and SMS history on the day Hiny Umoren was murdered.
For ease of understanding, I ran all the numbers through Truecaller and put the names in brackets next to them
Around 1.17PM on April 29, Frank Akpan placed a call to Hiny Umoren, which lasted for 124 seconds. It is fair to extrapolate that this was a call where he gave directions to her regarding where she should go for the purported interview. At 1.21PM, he then placed a call to a Blessing Godwin, which lasted 147 seconds. Was he chatting up another potential victim of the same job interview snare? It is impossible to say for now.
At 3:38PM, Hiny Umoren then placed a call to Frank Akpan lasting for 106 seconds. If you compare the cell tower data here to that of his previous phone calls, it is clear that he was already at the supposed venue waiting for her because the tower location does not change. It is safe to assume that she was calling to tell him that she had arrived for her interview. Save for a 2-second WhatsApp voice note which Hiny later managed to send to Umoh, this call was probably the last time anyone ever heard Hiny Umoren alive again.
Around 6.15PM, almost 3 hours after Hiny Umoren arrived at his lair, Frank Akpan then placed a call to an unknown number. The call records clearly show +2348127530092 – Frank Akpan’s known public number – making repeated contact between 6.15PM and 6.50PM with +2348122386922, an unknown number which brings up no details on Truecaller or Facebook. For reference, if a mobile number pulls up no Truecaller, Facebook or social media results whatsoever, this could either mean that it is used on a non-internet-enabled feature phone (a so-called ‘burner’ phone), or that the owner is extremely intentional about having no digital footprint linked to that number.
Incidentally, this was also around the time when the Twitter hashtag #FindHinyUmoren had already led Twitter sleuths to uncover Frank Akpan’s identity, leading to his amateur attempt at misdirection referenced earlier. In the middle of a clear and obvious crisis moment, why was Frank Akpan repeatedly trying to establish contact with this unknown number with no digital footprint? The answer could lie in some data I extracted from a different set of call records showing Frank Akpan’s contact with this number in the days and weeks before Hiny Umoren was murdered.
This unknown person contacted Frank Akpan no fewer than 12 times between April 4 and April 27
Was this a regular buyer or facilitator of whatever gruesome trade Frank Akpan was involved in? Was Frank calling him for help after an unexpected social media campaign suddenly exposed him and put their entire business operation at risk? Why was this the first number that Frank called immediately after raping and murdering a young woman? We do not know the answers to these questions, but there is at least one person other than Frank Akpan himself who can probably tell us.
The “Senior Forestry Officer”
It is April 30, 2021, and Frank Akpan has become a nationwide hate figure on social media. His involvement in Hiny Umoren’s disappearance is public knowledge at this point, and time is running out for him. He needs friends and allies to protect him – and fast. His name and picture are doing the rounds on social media, and in a city like Uyo, it will not be long before someone recognises him and he finds himself subjected to Nigerian street justice.
Between 10.27Am and 10.44AM, he places 3 phone calls to a Francisca Bassey Akpan – Francisca is in Calabar when she receives the calls, and she is using a smartphone in a location with high network capacity, which means the network is able to record her location while receiving Frank’s calls to within a few metres of accuracy.
At 10.55AM, Francisca calls Frank back. Only they and the mobile network know what is said during this 51-second conversation. My source balked at the idea of obtaining customer voice notes because that would simply be a bridge too far, even for the sake of solving a brutal murder. Just getting this much information to me is already breaking multiple in-house rules and NCC codes, so they understandably did not want to push their luck.
At 4.32PM on April 30, Frank then makes one of the most most interesting phone calls in this entire story. Truecaller pulls up the details of the recipient of the phone call with the number +23480*****326 – one “Kufre Effiong.” Unlike the other people Frank has been known to associate with, Kufre Effiong appears to be from a different world. He is significantly older than Frank and as his location details show, he lives in the swanky part of town. Who is this guy?
Their conversation lasts for just 31 seconds and presumably ends with Kufre hanging up. Frank’s phone rings almost immediately at 4.34PM. The caller is +234803*****19 and this conversation lasts decidedly longer than the last one – almost 4 minutes. Who is the owner of this number that has so much to talk about with someone who is probably Nigeria’s most wanted man at the moment? Truecaller answers once again.
Kufre Effiong is an older, wealthier looking man who apparently spends his time in the upscale Ewet Estate while Frank Akpan rapes and murders young women in uncompleted buildings somewhere across town.
What could these two possibly have in common that brings them together? Interestingly, if you compare the location data from both calls, it is clear that both men have in fact met physically at a certain 58G, Ewet Housing Estate in Uyo. Frank is probably outside the building talking to this older, wiser man on the phone and hoping to get some help from him.
More on 58G, Ewet Housing Estate later.
Who exactly is Kufre Effiong? I eventually found the answer after scrolling through dozens, maybe hundreds of social media profiles with that exact name. Mr Effiong as it turns out, is something of a big fish in Niger Delta civil service circles.
Now back to the address where both men met. Plot 58, G Unit, Ewet Housing Estate is home to the Uyo branch office of a medical NGO called the Center for Clinical Care and Research (CCCR Nigeria).
Founded in 2010 by an all-star list of accomplished Nigerian-American doctors, CCCR carries out medical outreach programs in underserved areas of Nigeria and promotes medical best practices using a fusion of global best practices and local healthcare delivery models. Or at least it used to, because as far as it is possible to tell, its social media pages have had no activity whatsoever since 2017. A scan of news stories since 2017 using the keywords “CCCR Nigeria” and “Center for Clinical Care and Research Nigeria” turns up nothing.
And yet, at least if Google is to be believed, its Uyo branch office at 58, G Unit, Ewet Housing Estate still opens at 8.30AM everyday and closes at 5PM. This exact address also happens to be where Kufre Effiong made and received calls from Frank Akpan, who also physically met him there 24 hours after raping and murdering Hiny Umoren.
Black market value of human organs | Source: Gizmodo
Due to the convoluted house numbering system in Uyo, the property labeled as 58, G Unit, Ewet Housing Estate is also recognised on most digital maps as Plot S.9, Unit G, Ewet Housing Estate. That address is also home to Davok Suites, which is a popular upmarket hotel in Uyo favoured by high profile guests including the Cameroon national team.
This would be the ideal location for a trusted associate of a politician – say, a senior civil servant – to lay his head while running a clandestine errand for his boss.
An errand such as sourcing human parts for use in a ritual sacrifice ahead of the upcoming election season, for example. Whatever it is that happened or is happening at 58, G Unit, Ewet Housing Estate – and for whose benefit – is a question only Kufre Effiong can answer. Cavernous as this story has become, there is still one more twist.
Hiny Umoren’s Murder – A Police Cover Up In Progress
At the outset, I referenced a press release from the Akwa Ibom State Command on May 2 patting themselves on the back for arresting Frank Akpan and solving a huge criminal conspiracy in 5 minutes by pinning everything on him. One of the names singled out for praise in the press release for his alleged role in apprehending Frank Akpan was a certain SP Samuel Ezeugo.
On April 30, at 4.40PM, Frank Akpan placed a call to someone with the number +2348034386086.
Second from bottom
At this point, I trust it will not shock you to know that when I ran this number through Truecaller, the name that came up was none other than…
The one and the same.
In other words, while the Akwa Ibom Police Command is releasing statements claiming to be solving a crime by arresting a suspect, the suspect was actually making telephone calls to one of the police officers who would later “arrest” him, and speaking to him for a minute and a half. What were they talking about? Perhaps Frank Akpan – who was still at large at the time – was giving SP Ezeugo instructions for how to apprehend him nicely?
Even more conveniently, Akpan placed the call to SP Ezeugo less than a minute after receiving a text message from Kufre Effiong. While still physically located at 58, G Unit, Ewet Housing Estate.
In other words, the senior civil servant working at the Niger Delta Ministry probably sent SP Ezeugo’s phone number to Akpan via SMS, with instructions to call him and let him “handle” it.
And most tellingly of all, SP Ezeugo’s cell tower location data indicates that while all this was happening, he was in close range of a cell tower near the entrance of Ewet Housing Estate. Presumably, on his way to meet oga.
Take note of the cell tower’s location next to General Edet Akpan AvenueFor comparison, look at Ewet Housing Estate vis-a-vis General Edet Akpan Avenue
So putting the entire picture together, we have what appears to be a well-connected criminal gang in Akwa Ibom with links to the police and the Federal Ministry of the Niger Delta, which probably specialises in sourcing human organs either for the purpose of selling to the international black market or to service local politicians who believe in ritual human sacrifice.
By the accident of targeting someone with significant social media capital, the existence of this organisation is threatened, and so the Akwa Ibom Police Command is allegedly being used to actively bungle and mishandle the case.
Finding the individual who owns the telephone number +2348*******22 is central to unraveling the mystery of why Iniobong Umoren had to die, how many more like her have died in the past, and most importantly, who are the big fish behind the entire operation. Exactly what is going on at 58, G Unit, Ewet Housing Estate is another key question that must be answered.
If Frank Akpan won’t talk, maybe Kufre Effiong can tell us.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated in view of fresh facts.
The Presidency says some “disruptive elements” are recruiting ethnic groups and politicians with the motive of convening conferences where a vote of no confidence will be passed on President Buhari.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
The presidential spokesman however said the present administration would keep the country together, even if some unruly feathers would be ruffled in the process.
He claimed that some disgruntled religious and past political leaders are behind the plans.
The statement read, “The Department of State Services on Sunday alerted on sinister moves by misguided elements to wreak havoc on the government, sovereignty and corporate existence of the country.
Championed by some disgruntled religious and past political leaders, the intention is to eventually throw the country into a tailspin, which would compel a forceful and undemocratic change of leadership.
“Further unimpeachable evidence shows that these disruptive elements are now recruiting the leadership of some ethnic groups and politicians round the country, with the intention of convening some sort of conference, where a vote of no confidence would be passed on the President, thus throwing the land into further turmoil.
“The caterwauling, in recent times, by these elements, is to prepare the grounds adequately for their ignoble intentions, which are designed to cause further grief for the country.
“The agent provocateurs hope to achieve through artifice and sleight of hands, what they failed to do through the ballot box in the 2019 elections.
“Nigerians have opted for democratic rule, and the only acceptable way to change a democratically elected government is through elections, which hold at prescribed times in the country. Any other way is patently illegal and even treasonable. Of course, such would attract the necessary consequences.
“These discredited individuals and groups are also in cahoots with external forces to cause maximum damage in their own country. But the Presidency, already vested with mandate and authority by Nigerians till 2023, pledges to keep the country together, even if some unruly feathers would be ruffled in the process.”
AS Roma has announced Jose Mourinho as their manager at the start of next season.
Announcing the move in a statement, the Italian club said, “The club are delighted to announce an agreement has been reached with Jose Mourinho for him to become our new head coach ahead of the 2021-22 season.”
Mourinho was sacked by Tottenham last month after a disappointing season.
Speaking after his abrupt Tottenham sacking, just days before the Carabao Cup final, Mourinho suggested he would waste no time in getting back into management.
“No need,” he said, when asked by Sky Sports if he would take a break and recharge the batteries on the day he was sacked. “No need for breaks and batteries.” But he will now replace Paulo Fonseca when he steps down from the Italian club at
Roma had also earlier today announced that current head coach Paulo Fonseca will leave at the end of the season.
“On behalf of everyone at AS Roma, we would like to thank Paulo Fonseca for the hard work and leadership shown during these two years,” President Dan Friedkin said.
“Paulo has led the team through several challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and a change of ownership, and he has done so with generosity, fairness and great character.
“We wish him all the best in his future endeavours and are confident he will represent a fantastic added value wherever he goes.”
Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto added: “I would like to thank Paulo for the work he has done at the club over the past two seasons,” Tiago Pinto said.
Workers of the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan on Tuesday morning staged a protest asking for the sack of the Director General
The Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions, NISER, Muyiwa Babatimehin; Chairman, Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals and Research Institutions , Mathew Olagunju and Chairman, Non-Academic Staff Union, Theophilus Tubi, led the protesters.
The protesters who carried placards with various inscriptions accused the Director General, Dr Folarin Gbadebo-Smith, of administrative and academic incompetence,contract splitting and non prioritisation of research.
Babatimehin, who addressed journalists at the protest said, ” We have tolerated Folarin Gbadebo-Smith for four years, we are not going to tolerate him for another four years. He should go.
” He ( DG) is incompetent. He doesn’t have PhD which is the requirement. He is a dentists but we thought he could still perform but he has performed woefully.
“He has received N988m in the last four years and less than 40 per cent is spent on research which is our core mandate. “
The workers vowed to make the institute ungovernable for the DG if his tenure was renewed.
They threatened to paralyse the institute with industrial action if Gbadebo-Smith was reapointed as the director general.
Babatimehin said further, “We found it auspicious to conscientiously implore the authorities to save NISER from an impending calamity by not returning the incumbent – Dr Folarin Gbadebo-Smith as Director-General at the expiration of his tenure in May, 2021.
“The authorities should put in place a process of appointing a new DG for NISER as enshrined in the Conditions of Service for Federal Research and Development Agencies, institutes and colleges: and immediately commence the investigation of these allegations and other possible administrative and financial infractions and culpable individuals be made answerable.
“In addition to the above, we also view with apprehension the sudden dissolution of the NISER Governing Council and we demand that the reason behind the purported dissolution be investigated.
“Also, in 2020, as a result of the controversies generated by promotion, research, and publication inadequacies at the institute; the Minister of State, National Planning constituted a panel which has concluded its work and possibly submitted their report.
“We therefore demand for the release of the report and the implementation of the recommendations therein.”
Meanwhile, NewsWireNGR gathered that the DG had earlier said the allegations were targeted to prevent him from being reapointed.
They want the inspector General of Police to ensure that perpetrators of the kidnap and murder of the University of Uyo graduate are brought to justice.
The House through a motion under matters of urgent public importance moved by Hon. Unyime Idem representing Ukanafun/Oruk Anam federal constituency of Akwa Ibom State also mandated the IGP to ensure the protection of Umoren’s family members from harassment, intimidation and harm.
Idem noted that “She received a phone call from the assailant who pretentiously called her and invited her to a false interview of an advertised job.”
The lawmaker added that “Umoren was later found dead by the Officers of the Nigeria Police Force after an official report and with the help of a wide reportage of her disappearance and information of the false interview on social media platforms. Her body was further exhumed where it was buried in a shallow grave by her assailant.”
The motion also called for the protection of the family members of the deceased alleging that they have faced threats in the last couple of days asking them to withdraw the case.
He also noted that rape and other violent crimes against women and the girl child should not go unpunished, saying it will act as a deterrent for the perpetrators and others nursing the thought to forestall future occurrence.
The House adopted the motion and mandated its committee on Women Affairs to follow up on the investigation and come up with a report.
Tola Alli, NewsWire.
