A stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Etinan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State; Mr. Ephraim Akpan has urged the general public to discard any fake publication on Social Media platforms purportedly linking him with criminal acts of kidnapping, murder and human organ harvesting.
Ephraim, a former Chapter Secretary of the APC in Etinan stated this in a press statement dated May 3, 2023, which he personally signed, a copy of which was obtained by The Profile Newspaper.
The statement reads thus in full “My attention has been drawn by my relatives, business and political associates, friends and well-wishers to a defamatory pictorial publication on Social Media Platforms by yet unknown person(s) with intent to tarnish and smear my reputation and image for yet-to-be identified reasons.
“In the said publication which has been forwarded to me, the publishers attached my photograph to graphic images of fetish objects and some human parts with inscription to wit:
“WANTED RITUALIST The public is hereby notified that NAME:[ EPHRAIM AKPAN] (with my phone number) [48YRS] WHOSE PHOTOGRAPH APPEARS ABOVE IS A WANTED KIDNAPPER AND MURDERER, WHO IS BASED ON HARVESTING HUMAN ORGANS. KINDLY REPORT TO THE NEAREST POLICE STATION IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THIS ENTITY.”.
Consequent upon the above, I wish to state as follows:
1. That I have never been involved in any such acts described above neither am I under any investigation by any security agency, anywhere.
2. That I am suspecting some hackers who in very recent times, have made efforts to hack my Social Media handles for whatever criminal purposes.
3. That I have alerted security agencies to this sinister and most degrading antics of men of the underworld and they are seriously on the trail of the perpetrators.
To this end, the general public is hereby urged to discard the defamatory publication as same is baseless and false. The general public is by this notice also beseeched to volunteer any information to the nearest police station that could lead to the arrest and prosecution of the criminal(s) behind this nefarious act as no one knows who would be the next target”.