How's your family coping, without Odudu?
It is very devastating. The pain is unimaginable. Not
being allowed to grief the irreparable loss of your dad
and having to deal with your only brother being
incarcerated is a pain beyond the imaginable.
How's his condition inside the prison?
His health is deteriorating as result of pneumonia
which he had in the UK and has worsened with him
being in prison. He looked very ill when he came to
court on the 15th of December 2014.
Can you briefly tell us what really happened on the
day your father, Albert Ukpanah was assassinated,
and how your brother, Odudu became a prime
suspect?
On the 12th of March 2014, on the fateful day, our
brother and the security guard were the only persons
at our 40 Mkpokporo Street residence, Abak, Akwa
Ibom State. They informed us that our dad went to
Uyo the State capital at about 8a.m and returned home
at about 4p.m, he had lunch then told both of them
(Odudu and the security guard who is also a distant
relative) that he was going out with a friend and
would not be using his car which is something he
sometimes did.
He returned home at 8p.m and called Odudu to open
the gate as the day security guard had closed at 7p.m.
When he got into the compound he asked our brother
to put out three plastics chairs which are constantly
outside and only taken in when our security guard
was about to close as he most often preferred to
attend to political meetings outside. After putting out
the chairs he (Odudu) went into the house to continue
watching the football match. He noted that at about
9p.m our father had come into the house and picked a
bottle of Remy Martin and a can of stout. At that point
he knew his guests were around. Serving drinks to
his friends/visitors by himself was never a big deal to
him. Please note that our dad having political
meetings in our home was a normal practice which
had gone on for years and it wasn't unusual not to
know or see who came and went.
Due to constant lack of electricity the generating set –
a lister generator – was on, making it usually difficult
for anyone inside the house to hear things happening
outside. Hence, the inability of our brother to hear if
there was any scuffle outside the house. However, at
about 10:45p.m when the match was over he looked
through his bedroom window which is the only room
facing the entrance of the house to see if the meeting
was over, instead he saw someone's leg on the floor
and rushed out only to meet our father in the pool of
his blood. He immediately raised an alarm,
neighbours and passers-by who were returning from
watching the match at different viewing centres
rushed into the compound. They assisted Odudu in
rushing dad to the hospital where he was confirmed
dead.
The murder was reported to Abak police station but
file was transferred immediately to police
headquarters at Ikot Akpan Abia, Uyo, Akwa Ibom
State. Operatives of the State Security Service also
joined the police in investigating the case.
Is it true that Odudu confronted Governor Godswill
Akpabio when the governor paid a condolence visit
to your family?
News of our dad's death went viral on the print media
and internet with lots of Akwa Ibomite, even the ones
in Diaspora accusing the State Government of being
instrumental to his murder. When the State Governor
paid a condolence visit to the family residence on the
20th of May 2014 and repeatedly stated that he was
accused of killing our father of which our brother told
him that we were not the ones writing the articles as
we were too traumatized and had left the murderers
in the hands of God. A newsletter was published the
next day 21st May, 2014 in Government-owned
Pioneer Newspaper by the government pressmen
stating ‘Akpabio has no hand in my fathe’'s murder’ –
Ukpanah’
What's the impact of the #ReleaseOduduUkpanah
campaign so far?
It's been overwhelming. When we decided to start the
campaign we didn't know the response from people
would generate such attention but the urge to shout
out for help had become pertinent. The reach out
from men and women from the media/blogs (both
print and Internet) has been phenomenal. Our prayer
and purpose of the campaign is for our brother to be
released.
You said the state-owned The Pioneer newspaper
had published a news report with the title
"Akpabio has no hand in my father's murder"-
Ukpanah. Was it your brother, Odudu Ukpanah that
the paper referred to in that news story? If yes,
did Odudu actually say that to the paper - that the
governor didn't have a hand in Ukpanah's
assassination?
Yes they were referring to Odudu. When the governor
visited he said that people had been accusing him of
our dad's murder. While Odudu's response was that
we also saw the stories on prints media and Internet
but that we had left the murderers in the hands of
God.
Who do you think is after your family, and why?
We don't know who is after our family. We have no
political ambitions.
It appears you've just made up your mind to speak
up against the continuous detention of your
brother. Where did you get the courage from?
Pent up anger and the injustice meted to our family
even after the gruesome murder of our father, as well
as the present health conditions of our mum which
continued to fail as a result of not seeing her only son
for seven months after the burial of her husband. And
also, our only brother's ill health in prison. Mom is
totally devastated.
To what extent are you willing to go, to ensure that
Odudu is released?
We want out brother released. So therefore we need
justice and will stand up for it. We will fight to the
last for this anomaly to be corrected. The truth must
be heard.
If eventually you have Odudu released, will your
family put pressure on the state to fish out those
behind your father's assassination?
What matters to us now is Odudu's unconditional
release.
And finally, how would you describe Odudu? What
kind of person is he?
He is a Christian boy with a good upbringing.
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