Godwin Abraham, the artisan who was allegedly brutalised on the orders of the Chairman of Abak Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Imoh Williams, said the police had yet to arrest the council boss.
Abraham, who spoke to The PUNCH on Thursday, explained that his assailants, Uduak Alele and Nyong Okpana, claimed to be acting on behalf of Williams.
A video of the assault had gone viral on the social media. The video showed the two men flogging the artisan who groaned with pain.
The men accused him of insulting Williams by posting on Facebook that he owed him (Abraham) N75,000 for some decoration jobs.
Nigerians who saw the video had called for thorough investigation into the incident.
The Governor of the state, Udom Emmanuel, who condemned the attack, described it as “unacceptable in a civilised society.”
The state House of Assembly had also convened a meeting where the suspension of the council boss was announced.
The Assembly mandated its committee on local government to investigate the matter.
Abraham, while speaking with newsmen, said the assault happened in April 2019, adding that the chairman had refused to pay him for three different decoration jobs he did for him at different times.
He said attempts to recover his money had been rebuffed by Williams, who suddenly said he had become a burden to him.
The victim noted that he was at home on the day of the incident when he was called on the phone to come to the council secretariat.
He explained that on arrival, the men seized him, beat him up, as another member of the gang filmed the attack.
“They almost killed me. They said the chairman sent them to come and warn me that I had been disturbing him over the N75,000. They recorded the video to go and show the chairman in the house as evidence that they had carried out his assignment. I reported to SARS. The police arrested them and when I said the assault was captured on their phone, the police opened their phone and saw the video. They have not yet arrested the chairman.”
The accused, however, denied knowledge of the attack, adding that he never sent the men to assault Abraham.
He said, “I have seen the disturbing video of and physical abuse meted out to a man for his activities on the social media by a group who claim to have acted on my behalf.
“In the light of the troubling social, economic and political implication of such anti-social vice on my person and office, I hereby state that at no time did the perpetrators of the act did so with my permission.
“My history and antecedents are in the public domain as proof that I have never subscribed to violence and could not have sponsored the said attack on the man in question.
“I was only informed of the incidence a fortnight ago when the perpetrators were rounded up by the police at the state police headquarters, and I was thereafter briefed on the matter.”