The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has disowned its South-West Coordinator, Mr. Sunday Ashefon, over a statement made by him and published in some national dailies giving the Akwa Ibom State Governor His Excellency, Chief Godswill Akpabio, 14 days to find Prof. James Olomo, a lecturer of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife purportedly kidnapped in Akwa Ibom State on October 17, 2013 or face what he described as serious actions by Nigerian students.

In a strongly-worded statement by NANS Vice President, Special Duties, Comrade Ubon Marcus, the association distanced itself from the said publication. It made it clear that the statement does not in any way represent the official position of NANS but that of Sunday Ashefon. NAN described Ashefon as a silly attention seeker who feels he can make Chief Akpabio notice him through cheap blackmail and propaganda.

Comrade Marcus explained that as Chief Security Officer of Akwa Ibom State, Governor Akpabio has provided security agencies in the state with resources to tackle crime and even established special security teams such as ‘Operation Thunder’ and ‘Quick Response Squad’ to further rid the state of criminal elements. He wondered why Ashefon should attempt to insult Akpabio over the alleged kidnap of a man who is said to have come to Akwa Ibom on a private business of which the governor was unaware.

The NANS Vice President further stated that to the best of his knowledge, security agencies in the state have been performing their duties and called on the public to approach such agencies whenever security issues arose.

While sympathising with the family of Prof. Olomo over the unfortunate incident, the NANS VP warned Ashefon to desist from making unguarded statements about the issue. He also asked him to immediately apologise to Nigerian students for using its much respected platform to peddle blackmail and propaganda rather than projecting the legitimate interests of students.

Comrade Marcus urged the NANS South-West Coordinator, whom he described as a fresh Comrade who recently assumed the office, to focus on the tenets of the struggle rather than attacking elder statesmen like Akpabio. He noted that Akpabio has done a lot to sustain the struggle, citing his hosting of the last NANS National Convention in Uyo as the greatest support any Governor has given to NANS, for which all students should be grateful.

The NANS VP emphasised that Governor Akpabio holds education in very high esteem as shown by his free and compulsory education policy and provision of educational infrastructure across the state even to University of Uyo which is a federal institution.

He noted that the governor’s timely intervention in the Uniuyo crisis stopped the crisis from aggravating and provided an enabling platform for the return of peace in the institution.

To the NANS Vice President, a man who has done a lot for education does not deserve the insult by Ashefon. He, therefore, apologised to Governor Akpabio and urges him to continue in his good works for the people.

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