Gunmen abduct expatriate, kill two soldiers in Akwa Ibom

Yet to be identified gunmen on Wednesday abducted an expatriate engineer after killing two soldiers at a road construction site in the Ukanafun Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

The expatriate engineer, working with Al Madal Construction Company, was said to have been inspecting the construction of the Ikot Ibritam/Inen Ekeffe/Odoro Ikot/Ukanafun Road awarded by the state government.

An eyewitness, Mr Friday Idiok, who spoke to journalists, said the two soldiers were killed while escorting the expatriate on routine inspection of the project on the Idim Okpok mini bridge in Inen Ekeffe, the boundary village between Oruk Anam and Ukanafun local government areas of the state.

According to him, the gunmen whisked the expatriate engineer away after killing the two soldiers, while residents deserted the area for fear of arrest by security operatives.

He said: “There was repeated shooting here and before we knew what was happening, two soldiers were dead. The gunmen also escaped with the soldiers’ guns and took the expatriate to their hideout.

“Everybody here is in panic; we don’t know what the government will do on this matter.”

The Clan Head of Inen, Obong Johnson Obosi, while speaking on the incident, said most residents of the community were attending the burial of one of their sons when they heard gunshots.

Obosi said: “We were at the burial of one of our brothers, Mr Udoimoh, and when we were about to be entertained, we heard gunshots.

“The next report was that two soldiers attached to an expatriate working on the road construction project that links my community with Ukanafun had been killed and the expatriate abducted.”

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The Police Public Relations Officer of the state command, SP Odiko Macdon, while confirming the incident on Thursday, said the command was aware of the incident and working with other security agencies to arrest the perpetrators.

He said: “We have received information about the unfortunate incident at the road project site in Ikot Ibritam, Inen Ekeffe, leading to Ukanafun.

“We are working with our sister agencies to identify, arrest and prosecute those involved.”

Macdon also appealed to residents of the community to remain calm and go about their normal business, promising that security operatives would apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice.

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