Organisers of the proposed peaceful solidarity demonstration for the release of murder-accused Odudu Ukpanah have declared that there is no going back, vowing that the event will take place this Wednesday, January 7, 2015 as planned.

Comrade Inibehe Effiong, Coordinator of the ‪#‎ReleaseOduduUkpanah, disclosed this morning that the take-off point for the march is Primary School, Ikot Ntuen Oku, by Iboko Street, Ikot Ekpene Road, Uyo by 12 pm prompt. “T-shirts will be available on first come first served basis,” he said.

Effiong in a statement, a copy of which was made available to News Express, however announced that the solidarity visit to the Akwa Ibom State High Court, Abak Division, for Odudu Ukpanah which was slated for today has been put on hold till further notice.

This, he explained, is as a result of the directive by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) directing all its members nationwide to withdraw their services from various courts consequent to the failure by Executive arm of government at the federal and states level to keep to the terms of the recently signed MOU between the government and the union.

“We urge the government to urgently attend to the demands of the workers and not play with the liberties of the citizens which is being jeopardised by this strike action,” Effiong said, adding: “We sincerely apologies for any inconvenience this may cause our teeming supporters.”

News Express reports that Odudu Ukpanah has been detained for some seven months for allegedly killing his father, a charge which the #‎ReleaseOduduUkpanah insists is trumped-up by Governor Godswill Akpabio.

According to the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders (COHRD), “The charge of murder against Mr. Odudu is not only indefensible but clearly inconsistent with the Police Investigation Report dated 25th March, 2014, signed by Sgt. Ibediro Nnamdi, the Investigating Police Officer, which stated that the assassination of the slain outspoken politician, Engr. Albert Jimmy Ukpanah, was politically motivated and also recommended that further investigation be carried out to unravel the REAL KILLERS.”

COHRD gave the Akpabio-led Akwa Ibom State Government up to this Wednesday to discontinue the criminal trial of Odudu Ukpanah or “face a mass protest unprecedented in the history of Akwa Ibom State.”

•Photo shows Odudu Ukpanah.

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