Culled From Paradise News
Wife of ex- Special Adviser to the Cross River State governor on Cocoa Development and Control, Mrs. Joy Ofuka, has charged the Inspector- General of Police, IGP, Kayoede Egbetokun, to wade into what she described as unlawful arrest and detention of her husband, Dr. Oscar Ofuka, by Gov. Otu’s State Security Adviser (SSA) Rtd. Maj. Gen. Okoi Obono.
Ofuka’s wife gave the charge while reacting to detention of her husband, by the State Security Adviser to governor Otu in Calabar on Wednesday.
Speaking in a telephone conversation with our Correspondent, Ofuka ‘s wife disappointment over what she described as use of political power to intimidate and oppress former aide to Gov. Ayade, stressing that no political office is occupied forever but as all would fade a way with passage of time.
In her words, Ofuka’s wife said, “I still do not understand the gang up against my husband despite the effort which he sank to ensure that money owed cocoa landlords communities for sixteen years were paid.
“I see this detention as a strategy to distract the ongoing court process to intimidate my husband so that allottees whose monies were used by the state government to defray the debt burden that was hanging on the government’s neck would come after my husband.
“Let me state categorically clear that there was no dime paid into my husband’s private pocket instead all the money used by the state government to settle the cocoa landlords communities passed through the state government account through the smart gov. platform as authorized by the court’s consent judgment.
“This is why I am calling on the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, PhD whom I am quite sure hates oppression, not to allow this evil perpetrated against my husband to continue.
“Even though am not a lawyer, I know too well that once a matter is in court, no one is allowed to arrest someone, unfortunately, the reverse.
“The harassment and intimidation by the State Security Adviser who is out to see my husband dead is unacceptable.
“He cannot use his position to oppress my husband like that. What crime or treason did my commit, that you took him to Afi Army Barracks at Ikom local government area, whisked him to Akim Barracks and finally to Federal Housing police station and to Zone 6 Police Commands Calabar in less than 48 hours?
“Is he a terrorist to be treated the way he was being mal-treated? These are questions that State Security Adviser needs to answer.
“His kids and I are really traumatized. The entire family have been in serious pain since all these started.
“We have not been able to sleep in the last three days. We are indeed so emotionally drained.
“My husband has not siphon any money belonging to the state government, all the cash that accrued from lease of government cocoa farms were paid into Cross River State government’s account and not to his private pocket. So why the oppression and harassment?
“Government they say is a continuum, what is the rational behind this arrest and detention?
“Is it because they tried to evict the allottees that got farms through my husband and legitimately paid money into the coffers of the state government and at the same time and the plot by certain individuals to evict the allottees out from the farms failed following court injunction order?
“I called on Cross Riverians, well-meaning Nigerians that my husband did no wrong, except for the fact that he was only an agent to the immediate past administration led by Prof. Ben Ayade.
“To the best of my knowledge, money realized from lease of farms were money used by the immediate past administration to defray 16-years old debt that previous administrations owed the cocoa landlord communities as royalties for the land that the communities donated to state government to cultivate its cocoa estate.
“First they interrupted the court processes, secondly they alleged that a worker who died in the estate was masterminded by Ofuka, the question how?
“Why not allow the police to carry out a thorough and independent investigation? From what we gathered the deceased died in plot 59/64 which is a bid far away from the cocoa plot that concerned my husband.
“Besides that, the master of the deceased can attest to the fact that my family do not have any problem with him, the cocoa plot which the master of the deceased work is not even in contention with my husband.
“I urged the State Security Adviser whom I know has integrity not to hinder the ongoing investigation, but to allow the police to do their job by carrying out a thorough investigation without prejudice, rather than resorting to intimidate our family members.
“What they are doing is a ploy to distract and scare off beneficiaries allottees that genuinely paid for farms so that they will be afraid to access the farms.
“When a matter is in court, as law abiding citizen, we allow justice to take its course. It’s barbaric for anyone to begin to harass and intimidate one whom they are in court with.”
However, the State Security Adviser, Rtd. Maj. Gen. Okoi Obono, who reacted to the allegations during a telephone call with our Correspondent, denied issuing any order for the arrest and detention of Ayade’s ex-aide Ofuka, stressing that the allegations were not true but lies.
“I am not responsible for his arrest and detention,” he said.
