In the Subpoena, CRS Commissioner of Police is the plaintiff and Ikem the defendant. It was addressed thus: “To Venatius Ikem, ‘M’ of House 4, Etim Ekpo Close, Parliamentary village. You are commanded in the name of the Chief magistrate Grade I, to attend before the Court at Moore Road, Calabar on the 13th of January, 2016, at the hour of 09.00 o’clock in the forenoon and so from day to day until the above named cause is tired to give evidence in the above named cause”.
Political sources are maintaining that what is about to play out is pitching agents of government against Ikem, believed to be the arrow head of a political opposition working to unseat Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade in 2019.
Ikem’s legal representatives led by Okoi Obono-Obla, are condemning “the use of the Nigeria Police Force…to oppress, intimidate and hound…opponents especially members of the All Progressives Congress”, and are headed for the Federal High Court, to file an application for the enforcement of Ikem’s fundamental human rights. Obla told www.calitown.com on the phone that, “the summons was dropped in Ikem’s private residence in Calabar. He was away to Lagos on a trip, only for the case to be mentioned today in his absence and the Police prosecutor seeing his absence, acted the script by applying for the issuance of a warrant of arrest, when there was evidence that the summons was not personally served on my client”.
The former PDP man was not immediately present to comments.