The viral news story of Ekpo masquerade winning in court against the police has been confirmed to be untrue, fake and misleading.
After independent findings carried out by our paper, it was found that the report which circulated mostly in the social media spaces, did not represent what transpired in the court.
Various pundits while commenting on the development described the report as unverified and called on the general public to discard same.
According to a public commentator, Augustine Asuquo, who dismissed the reports, David Effiong, popularly known as the Ekpo Masquerade, has not won any court case and has not been released as erroneously claimed.
He described the circulating story as “false, mischievous and completely unverified.”
Writing on Thursday, Asuquo said those spreading the rumour failed to mention any key details such as the suit number, the court that handled the matter, the presiding judge, or even the lawyer who supposedly represented Effiong.
He jokingly added that the rumour sounded as if “the matter was filed at Obio Ekpo court, presided over by mbong ekpos and represented by lawyer Ekpo,” stressing that the story had no legal basis.
Asuquo explained that he was present at the Uyo Magistrate Court earlier in the week when Effiong was brought in by the police for arraignment. According to him, the police requested a remand order, but the magistrate refused after lawyer Barr. Ekom Nwoko appeared for Effiong and asked the court to grant him bail. The court agreed, but Effiong was unable to meet the bail conditions.
He added that he personally spoke with Effiong after the court session and noted that none of the masquerade’s associates came forward to stand for him. Due to the unmet bail conditions, the police took Effiong away.
“As at today,” Asuquo said, “I can confirm that David Effiong is still at the correctional centre while people on Facebook are celebrating a fake court victory.”
He urged the public to ignore the false reports and wait for verified information regarding the government’s ban on the Ekpo masquerade, promising to share more details later.
