Cross River Chief of Staff denies assault claim, alleges blackmail

Yesterday a man named Jeremiah Ashang accused the Chief of Staff to Cross River state governor of assault (read here). The man accused has now released a statement explaining his side of the story

The Chief of Staff to Cross River State Governor, Martin Prim has decried allegations of assault made against him by one Jeremiah Ashang as a cocktail of lies. Orim said the entire account of the alleged assault as narrated by Ashang is riddled with half truths, contradictions and outright falsehood. 

He said this was a clear case of the aggressor playing the victim, saying it was Ashang and his gang who actually assaulted his driver.

 "I neither assaulted nor ordered the beating of Ashang or anybody else for that matter. This man is clearly out to blackmail me. But in his hurry to tar me and malign my person, he exposed himself for who he truly is. A liar.

"While in one breath he claimed I ordered his my security details to beat him, tie him up and bundle him into a Hilux van, in another breath he said he fled for his dear life after I purportedly ordered that he and his cousin should be shot. I am wondering how a man who was supposedly tied up and thrown into a Hilux van, could have made such an escape."

Orim said it was actually Ashang and his gang that actually assaulted his driver after they forced their way into his hotel room, claiming the said room the hotel staff checked in his driver, was reserved for them.

The Chief of Staff who said he refused to be dragged into the confusion that ensued thereafter, accused Asang of cheap blackmail.