A senior Priest of the African Church in Akwa Ibom State, Reverend Richard Peters has described as unimaginable and height of irresponsibility for anyone to speculate that the killing of two Aides of the Governorship candidate of the Young Peoples Party YPP in the state, Senator Bassey Akpan was politically motivated.

It could be recalled that the Senator's Aides were killed by Unknown Gunmen in Imo State when they went to bring campaign vehicles, Senator Ifeanyi Uba distributed to all the state branches of the party.

Fielding questions from callers during a phone in programme in Uyo over the weekend, the Cleric who sympathized with the deceased families warned political gladiators against cashing into the unfortunate situation to blackmail any person or the government.

Peters who is also the Special Assistant to Governor Udom Emmanuel on Media while speaking on the campaigns flagg off for the 2023 general elections urged the people to shun blackmail, propaganda, hate speech and violence against people who do not share same political ideology with them

He also urged them to leverage on the peaceful atmosphere the governor, Mr Emmanuel had created in the state to go about their campaigns.

His words "it is ridiculous for somebody to come up with the notion that the killing of the two Aides by unknown gunmen in Imo State has anything to do with Akwa Ibom politics. It is not everything that we should attach politics to, though everything goes during campaign period like this.

"My advice to politicians is; as we are already into campaigns for 2023 general elections, they should uphold the political culture of non violence which the governor has established in the state and shun blackmail propaganda hate speech especially against those who do not share same political ideology with them."

Peters who further advised politicians to borrow a leaf from the peaceful disposition of the governor in politicking recalled how he(governor Emmanuel) was able to quell the storm in 2019 war song of "warsaw saw war" in the state and the threat of "Federal Might" through his calm and focused nature on issues that have to do with the state.

"Since the inception of this administration in 2015, it has never been recorded that any person who vied for political office was killed or the family members killed, victimized, tortured or even threatened.

"Then in 2019, we all were here when the sound of "Warsaw saw war" was hitting, the alleged Federal might threat, hilux and walking sticks purchased accross the state? despite all the intimidations, the governor was calm, the only thing he said was that Akwa Ibom people will resist any attempt to jeopardize the interest, safety and peace in the state, and he came out victorious.

"The governor has allowed the democratic principles to come to play, we are very much hopeful that political opponents and gladiators should take the advantage of this peaceful disposition of the governor and call their supporters to remain peaceful in their dealings for the overall interest of the state." The cleric noted.