Joe Effiong, Uyo
Mr. William Ndarake, a witness testifying for the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsima Ekere, at the governorship elections petitions tribunal in Uyo, yesterday, tendered a video he claimed to have recovered while being held captive by suspected Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs.
Ndarake told the tribunal that despite being held hostage at gunpoint, he recorded the video showing election rigging at Obot Akara Local Government Area.
The witness, who claimed he was an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ad hoc staff (Assistant Presiding Officer- SPO) for Nto Edino Ward 4, Unit 005, alleged that he was abducted with election materials to the house of Senator Chris Ekpenyong at Abia Okpo Nkan, where at gunpoint he was ordered to rig in support of PDP.
The video, which he claimed was recorded inside the house of Ekpenyong, did not however, show him neither did it authenticate the place was his house.
“When they took us there, they ordered us to comply or none of us will leave there alive,” he alleged.
During cross examination by counsel to third respondent (INEC), Sylva Oguwemoh (SAN), the witness said he was in the abducted location for about an hour and denied seeing Senator Ekpenyong throughout the episode.
Oguwemoh, referring to the witness deposition, had to ask, “but the thugs who brought you to the house were well armed and you were afraid of them and wanted to run?”
The witness, who insisted he made the video recording at the same time the alleged PDP thugs were threatening to kill him should he fail to ‘cooperate’, could not, however, point at any thug, threat or violence scene in the video.
Rather, he told the tribunal that he dropped his phone on the floor to record and afterwards carried it and continued the recording.
He said the over three-minute video which had never been tampered with by anyone, contained unedited scenes of all that took place in his place of captivity in one hour.
“I did not edit the video, I stopped it and then continued recording again,” the witness said.
Despite his allegations that Emmanuel Enoidem, lawyer, used armed thugs to cause violence in some parts of the local government during the election, Okorie admitted under cross examination that he never reported such claims to the police neither is Enoidem facing any criminal case at any any court in the area.