The Village Head of Efen Ibom in Ika Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Essien Matthew Odiong is to die by hanging for murder, the State High Court in Uyo ruled Friday.
Odiong, who is married to 12 wives with 60 children, was standing trial on a four-count charge of conspiracy, ordering unlawful trial by ordeal, stealing of the motorcycle and murder of the owner, and a member of his community, Udoma Akpan Udo Ubom.
The Court presided by Justice Edem Akpan, found the 82-year-old monarch guilty of the murder of Ubom by injecting some chemical substance on him, leading to his death on April 26, 2017.
The late Ubom was accused by his brothers of being a wizard and was reported to the Village Head, who brought him before the Efen Clan Council, where the deceased was given an oath to swear that he was not a wizard.
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The Court held that “having sensed the consequences of his criminal activity, the monarch escaped from the Village since 2017 and returned in 2019, when he was arrested by the Police.”
Justice Akpan also held that since “the accused had voluntarily admitted that he sat at Efen Clan Council with five other village heads and members of the Clan Council to try the deceased on the allegation of witchcraft, the law has relieved the prosecution of the burden to prove the offense of conspiracy.”
According to the Court, “the admission of the process of trial and the decision of Efen Clan Council to administer oath on the deceased, has logically brought to the conclusion that a plastic bath on the head of the late Udoma Akpan Udo Ubom and injecting some chemical substance through a syringe into his buttocks by the village head, caused the death of the deceased.”
Before he was sentenced, the convicted Village Head, popularly known as “Kill and Bury” pleaded for leniency, asking the Court to show him mercy.
Justice Edem Akpan, therefore, sentenced the Village Head to death by hanging for murder, seven years imprisonment with hard labour for directing unlawful trial by ordeal and three years imprisonment for conspiracy with others now at large.
