Akwa Ibom: Info Commissioner denies having vigilante guard attached to him 

The Commissioner for Information, Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Aniekan Umana, has distanced himself from a police press release alleging that a vigilante guard attached to him was arrested with an AK-47 toy gun.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Akwa Ibom State Command, DSP Timfon John, had in a press release on Wednesday explained that upon the arrest of the suspected vigilante guard, he told police operatives that he was attached to the Commissioner for Information on escort duties. The PPRO said investigations into the circumstances surrounding the suspect’s activities and possession of the imitation firearm had commenced.

The statement read in part: “An officer attached to Government House apprehended one Wisdom Umana, who was found in possession of a toy AK-47 rifle. Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect claimed to be a vigilante operative attached to the Commissioner for Information on escort duties. The circumstances surrounding his activities and possession of the imitation firearm are being thoroughly investigated.”

Alarmed by the claim, the commissioner, in a press release personally signed by him, said no vigilante personnel had been assigned to him from any source, stressing that the security personnel attached to him were officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), officially posted to his office by the state command.

He said, “My attention has been drawn to a press release issued by the Akwa Ibom State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), alleging that a vigilante operative carrying a toy gun is attached to me.

“I wish to state categorically that I have no vigilante personnel attached to me from any source whatsoever. The security personnel serving in my office are officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), who were officially posted to my office by the state command in the discharge of their official duties.”

While urging the police to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegation and establish the true facts surrounding the matter, the commissioner called on the public to disregard the suspect’s claim as “false and misleading in its entirety.”