Palpable fear now grips residents of Creek town in Odukpani local government area of Cross River as the father of the state Deputy Governor, Etubom Essien Effiok Cobham, has been kidnapped by unknown gunmen.
Etubom Cobham, a member of Obong of Calabar Etubom Traditional Council, is said to be in his early 80s and a retired police officer.
This is barely two months after HRH Etubom Nyong Okon, another clan head from the same Bakassi, and a businessman were kidnapped by gunmen in Akpabuyo axis and released after the family had paid a ransom.
An eye-witness account revealed that the incident took place on Friday between 12 and 3:00am, barley 24 hours after the Deputy Governor’s father returned from routine medical check up from the University of Calabar teaching Hospital, UCTH.
The account said, “The gunmen came with a security dog and as they arrived, they moved up to the market square and headed straight to the residence of the surviving elder brother of Director-General of State Security Services, Chief Asuquo Aka.
“There, they burst into the Chief wife’s room and were shocked the man was not around. Apparently disappointed that they did not see the man, they destroyed his Toyota Camry car and took his wife and the house help away.”
Continuing, the account further said, “From there, they dashed over to the compound of Deputy Governor’s father, Etubom Essien Effiok Cobham, located within a walking distance. He is the clan head of Mbarakom community.
“They tried to enter the compound through the main door, but the door was too strong. So they broke into the house through the wall. But while a group was on the Deputy Governor’s father’s house, another group was operating on the nearby compound owned by Chief Okokon Quarmina, a nephew of Chief Cobham, seen as the traditional prime Minister of the community. As the operation was going on, their security dogs were barking just as they were shooting sporadically.
“And as fate would have it, in the bid to get the Deputy Governor’s father out of the house, the kidnapped Asuquo’s wife and the house help escaped through the bush.”
Piqued that the duo had escaped, the gunmen promptly kidnapped the Deputy Governor’s father and his nephew, popularly known as Baba Okon, to an unknown destination.
When SATURDY SUN visited the community which is about 10 minutes from Calabar metropolis through the Calabar water, some residents of the community who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the gunmen numbering over 10 headed straight to the main beach where they parked their engine boat carrying two big horse power engines and zoomed off with their victims.
As they were moving, they said, they were consistently firing sporadically into the air to scare the natives away.
One of the residents, who simply gave his name as Emman, said “the community has never witnessed this magnitude of fire and gun power since the civil war ended. I can tell you that the sounds of the guns are beyond AK 47 riffles.”
Emman further said “on landing at the beach, the kidnappers, well armed to the teeth, went straight to the youth leader’s house which is four poles away from the beach and riddled it with bullets.”
But the leader, Ita Eyo Okoko, was said to have escaped through the back door when he heard the sound of guns fired sporadically.
The Public Relations Officer, PPRO, of the State Police Command, Mr. John Umoh, confirmed the incident, saying that security operatives have been sent to the community to ascertain the extent of the damage.
At government House, Calabar, workers were seen in groups discussing the development while a few members of staff wore mournful look just as the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Mr. Efiong Okon, could not be reached for comment.
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