Former Governor of Akwa Ibom State Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio and his wife Ekaette Unoma Akpabio are desperately plotting to assassinate one of their most outspoken critic and human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong; several sources have told SaharaReporters.

A source who is close to Akpabio told SaharaReporters that Mr. Effiong has been causing "serious damage" to efforts by the former governor to escape probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and has been using the media to "instigate the public against Akpabio and his successor Mr. Udom Emmanuel which they can no longer tolerate".

As part of the plot to "finally take out" the fiery lawyer, one source told SaharaReporters that Mr. Akpabio, his wife, and a certain Barr. Emmanuel Enoidem who served as the Commissioner for Housing and Urban Renewal under the administration of Akpabio and other close associates of the former Governor will hold a nocturnal meeting in Akpabio's hometown residence in Ukana in Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State on Thursday, February 23, 2017 to reach a consensus on the best way to execute the plot without traces.

Speaking with SaharaReporters on the matter, Mr. Effiong confirmed that his life is no longer safe following recent events and information available to him.

"The threats to my life has been going on for a long time now, but I never took such threats very seriously until recent events. Several informants have intimidated me that a decision has been taken by those who feel that they own Akwa Ibom State to kill me any day I "mistakenly" step my foot on Akwa Ibom State or in the alternative, to track me to my location in Lagos State and assassinate me."

"A few weeks ago, I was in Akwa Ibom State to secure the release of a building contractor who was illegally detained for 23 days in police custody on the orders of the State Governor Mr. Udom Emmanuel over the Reigners Bible Church Collapse in Uyo. I returned to Lagos after the contractor regained freedom on January 4, 2017.

Upon arriving Lagos, I received a call from someone who asked me to be grateful to God for not being killed while I was on my way to the Ibom International Airport en route Lagos. The source told me that he was at a beer parlor in Uyo when he overheard some persons boasting that Inibehe Effiong is like a small ant before Akpabio and that I was trailed to the airport but that the hired assassins lost track of the vehicle that conveyed me. That very soon, my name will be history."

"I have been threatened countless times by self-confessed loyalists and supporters of Godswill Akpabio both on Facebook and outside the social media. My only crime is my consistent call for a probe by the anti-corruption agencies into how the resources of Akwa Ibom State was spent between 2007-2015 during which period the oil-rich State received nearly N3 trillion in allocations from the Federation Account.

"Today, Friday 17th February 2017 I received two more frightening calls from two credible sources about the imminent plot to finally put an end to my life by killing me. The sources separately stated emphatically that I should watch all my steps and movements because I may be gunned down any moment from now and that hired assassins have already been mobilized and are only waiting for the order to strike."

"I am told that the plan to assassinate me became more serious after I filed a suit on Monday at the Federal High Court in Abuja on behalf of an anti-corruption activist asking the Court to disqualify the Senate President, Senator Akpabio and 9 other senators from taking part in the screening and confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC due to bias and apparent conflict of interest arising from their pending corruption cases with the EFCC."

"I have said it before; several Nigerians were assassinated during the reign of Akpabio because of their dissenting and critical views. I wrote on this in the past and gave numerous examples. If they want to use me to revive their killer squared despite the change in government at the center, it, therefore, means that the talk about President Buhari fighting corruption and impunity in this country is useless".

"If anything happens to me, Nigerians should know where it is coming from and those to hold responsible. I cannot be silenced by blood sucking rascals who looted the resources of Akwa Ibom State with impunity." Effiong concluded.

Another source revealed that the governor's wife who is actively involved in the plot was said to have initially cautioned against going ahead for fear that killing the activist will provoke national outrage and that it may be difficult for the killing not to be linked to the Akpabios' given his persistent criticisms of the former governor. "But after her school, John Paul's School at Shelter Afrique, Uyo was marked by the EFCC for investigation, she agreed that Inibehe who has continued to call for their probe should be taken out," the source said.

SaharaReporters recently published a leaked audio tape in which a brother to former Governor Akpabio by name Ibanga Akpabio is clearly heard boasting about his plans to eliminate another critic and former member of the House of Representatives from Akwa Ibom State, Hon. Robinson Uwak. The audio is yet to be denied by the Akpabios'.

During the regime of Akpabio as the governor of Akwa Ibom State, several high-profile political opponents and outspoken critics were assassinated.