The All Progressives Congress, Akwa Ibom State chapter, has called for the unconditional release of Ime Silas, who was allegedly arrested by the state government.

Silas, who is a reporter with a local tabloid in the state, Global Concord, was allegedly arrested on August 17 and arraigned before a Magistrates’ Court at Fulga Street, Uyo, following a petition by a government official.

The reporter’s arrest came barely 10 days after another journalist, Uduak Ikpatt, regained freedom after being declared missing for some days.

The party, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Nkereuwem Enyongekere, on Saturday, lamented that Silas’ charge was changed from defamation to cybercrime and deliberately taken to a court, which it said had no jurisdiction to entertain such a charge.

The statement said, “It has just come to our knowledge that another journalist, Mr Ime Silas, was arrested on Monday, August 17, 2020, following a frivolous petition by the wife of the governor, Mrs Martha Udom Emmanuel.

“We are also aware that the journalist under arrest is one of our party faithful; that on being arraigned in the Chief Magistrates’ Court, Fulga Street, Uyo on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, the ‘accusation’ was changed from ‘defamation’ to ‘cybercrime.’”

It added that the APC was not unaware of the alleged antics of those in the state government to keep the journalist behind bars because he had “exposed their excesses and evil intents in the state.”

Reacting to the allegations, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Borono Bassey, dismissed the APC’s allegations, saying that APC was always making sweeping allegations without substantiating them.

“If the APC people are making such allegations, do they have a copy of the petition from the governor’s wife? The APC in the state is fond of making sweeping allegations. They feel that what they can do is to foment trouble where there is no trouble.

“The governor’s wife is very busy doing what she is doing to complement the completion agenda of her husband and does not have time to be running after a journalist,” he said.