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No one would have thought that the once peaceful local governments in Cross River State would so easily be turned into theatres of war and destruction a few days to the general elections by thugs allegedly hired by the All Progressive Congress against their opponents of the People’s Democratic Party. From Obanliku in the far North to Akpabuyo in the deep South, the orgy of bloodshed and destruction of property belonging to members of the PDP have continued unabated under a decadent administration that seems pleased with the carnage.
Governor Ben Ayade who is constitutionally the chief security officer of the state has looked away with mirth, like Emperor Nero of Rome, while Cross River burns. He has neither taken an official position nor condemned the brigandage. Surely there must be a place where leadership overules politics and where great leaders stand up to be counted. Unfortunately, the chief security officer of Cross River appears only prepared to secure the lives and property of members of the APC , his political party, and not those of dissenting Cross Riverians who gave him the mandate in the first place.
There is no doubt that the Police high command in Nigeria habitually works for the cash and who maintains the supply, in Cross River, the police themselves have entered the arena of conflict, and one couldn’t tell the difference between APC officials and the police high command. The police are organizing sting operations against opponents of the APC and looking the other way while APC thugs maim members of the PDP and destroy their property. There are usually not a single arrest after the mayhem, only bland and meaningless statements that are offered tongue in cheek.
Even the APC apparatchik understand that the Nigerian people are tired of the crass performance of the party at the federal and state levels and the people cannot wait to show them the way out. APC awaits a tragic date at the polls as a fitting recompense for their misgovernance and no level of intimidation will spare them the harsh judgement of history. Stealing and telling lies to the people have been their tragic flaws and they will surely be served the bitter breakfast of hubris, like Icarus in Greek drama who ignored the advice of his father and flew too close to the sun.
Peter Akpanke, the PDP candidate for the House of Representatives in Obanliku/Obudu/Bekwarra federal constituency is not the murderer he is being framed up to be. Peter Akpanke is the King’s horseman, the Elesin Oba that must clean the land from the adultery and socerry of the ruling giants. He is merely a human representation of the rejection of the regime by the people themselves. Like Cervante’s Don Quixote, the APC may continue tilting at the windmills in the vain search for its own redemption in the house of Peter.
Just as there were invasions of the homes of PDP members in Akpabuyo, while the police grops in the dark. The APC must stop the carnage and orgy of bloodshed in our dear state and the intimidation of its citizens. They are the government in power with the patrimony of the people at their disposal. Why then do they fear and fret. Why do they panic and are sorely troubled. Violence is the weapon of those who have lost the argument, those who are weak in mental faculty and failures in their own enterprise. For no matter what they contrive to wreck upon the people, the verdict is already out on the streets that enough is now finally enough. The PDP is determined to take over in Cross River and is moving on to its appointed destiny oblivious of the dogs barking on the walkways.
