Smuggling Akwa Ibom into list of volatile states illogical – Group faults UK report

A socio-political group in Akwa Ibom State, Arise Ambassadors, has faulted the report by the United Kingdom that Akwa Ibom was one of the security-threatened states in Nigeria.

It said the report was not only illogical but also shocking for a state like Akwa Ibom, with no history of insecurity in the recent past, to be included among states with security challenges.

DAILY POST recalls that the United Kingdom, in its recent report, advised its citizens against undertaking trips to Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, and the riverine areas of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River due to security reasons.

The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) also advised Britons against undertaking non-essential trips to Bauchi, Kano, Jigawa, Niger, Sokoto, Kogi, Abia and 20km of the Niger-Kebbi borders.

Addressing journalists on Friday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, the Director of Special Duties of the ARISE Ambassadors, Paul Ufot, said that putting the state in the same category as some northern states with known security challenges is like mentioning the living among the dead.

According to him: “For the record, peace and security were one of the major achievements of the immediate past administration of Mr Udom Emmanuel, who even won awards and recognition for that at the global level. Peace reigned in Akwa Ibom State for eight unbroken years.

“Governor Umo Eno is not just sustaining that huge feat from his predecessor but has increased the peace and security in the state through different innovations and programmes, like the creation of the novel and nascent Ministry of Internal Security and Waterways Management.

“One then wonders why and where the UK allegedly made such wild projections, knowing that it is capable of sending nonexistent fears down the spines of the residents and other Nigerians. It is disappointing that such prophecies of doom are gradually watering down the credibility of information originating from the West.

“This is reminiscent of similar failed prophecies that preceded the conduct of the 2015 presidential election, where the United States of America predicated in vain that the election would lead to Nigeria’s breaking up. Of course, such never came to pass.”

He concluded thus: “We believe that security experts do not just make unfounded claims; [rather, they make claims] based on credible intelligence. On those grounds, we fault the report by UK.”