A man who supervised a poorly executed federal project in Akwa Ibom State, south-south Nigeria, has threatened to kill a PREMIUM TIMES journalist over a report on the project.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how a set of rehabilitated market stalls – 30 of them – in Abiakpo community in Obot Akara Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, became dilapidated eight months after because of substandard materials used.

A senator representing Akwa Ibom North-West District, Christopher Ekpenyong, who is from the community and whose residence is a few metres away from the stalls, facilitated the project.

Some stalls have cracks in their walls and holes in the roofs. The cement floors are broken in some of them.

The rooftop of most of the stalls shakes along with the mild wind and looks as though they could be easily blown off.

The concrete pillars in most of the stalls appeared inadequate. Also, the use of Bamboo sticks as improvised pillars in some stalls has raised safety concerns among the residents.

The rehabilitation, awarded by the Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) to Tymme Energy Integrated Resources Limited, has pitched some residents in the community against Senator Ekpenyong whom the community said should have ensured that they achieved the best quality.

Tymme Energy Integrated Resources Limited, according to data obtained online, was incorporated on 16 February 2016 with 18, Aiyewa Street, Kabba, Kogi State, north-central Nigeria, as its registered address.

Some traders and residents of the community who spoke with this newspaper called on the NBRRI to ask the contractor to redo the project.

When a PREMIUM TIMES journalist, Saviour Imukudo, contacted Andrew Okure, the man who supervised the rehabilitation of the stalls, before the newspaper ran a story on the project, he declined to comment.

Mr Okure later called the reporter, Mr Imukudo, on Wednesday apparently after reading the published story.

He (Okure) said the community residents who commented on the project were “members of the opposition party”.

When Mr Imukudo asked him on Thursday around 10:57 a.m. for his official comment on the shoddy project, Mr Okure said to the reporter: “I’m going to follow you up. Be careful, be careful.”

While Mr Okure was dishing out the threat, a male voice in the background could also be heard issuing out additional threats against the reporter.

“Look at you, look at six feet. Don’t worry. Thank God, I know your name now. Somebody is telling you to go and die and you are following the person,” the voice in the background said.

There are two water boreholes about 50 meters apart within the market – one is solar-powered and functional, while the other, a sanitation facility, awarded by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources was completed without a water tank and stand. The sanitation facility should have a water tank, according to the project description.

The water projects are poorly executed too.

“We will not take the threat lightly and will ensure we report formally to the police,” said Cletus Ukpong, the PREMIUM TIMES bureau chief for the south-south and south-east regions.

Mr Ukpong said his newspaper will not be cowed by the threat and will continue to hold powers accountable using professional journalistic tools.