Brief Report on the case of gruesome murder of Miss Iniubong Ephraim Umoren by Uduak -Abasi Frank Akpan, successfully prosecuted and conviction secured by a team of prosecuting state counsel led by the Hon. Attorney General, Uko Essien Udom, SAN
CHARGE NO. HU/87C/2021
THE STATE Vs. 1. AKAN UDUAK-ABASI FRANK a.k.a UDUAK-ABASI FRANK AKPAN
2. MR. FRANK AKPAN
3. AKPAN BASSEY-ANWAN a.k.a FLOURISH
BACKGROUND: Social Media was agog with the news/story of the gruesome murder of a young female job seeker, who was killed by a person who invited her for a job interview. Several insinuations were made, many names were called as belonging to a cartel of ritual killers/human body parts dealers responsible for the murder. It was also reported in many social media platforms that several corpses were discovered and exhumed at the scene of crime, a premises with partly completed one duplex in the remote village of Nung Ikono Obio, in Uruan LGA. All the claims of ritual killing etc turned out to be spurious and false at the conclusion of diligent investigation by both the police and the DSS.
Upon receiving the case file from the police, the Honourable Attorney General visited the scene of crime in company of police officers and members of the prosecution team to see things for himself.
There it was discovered that the story that several corpses were exhumed from the scene was a mere fabrication by some social media personae.
BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE:
Upon the receipt of the case file from the police and a careful study of same, a three – count charge /information was filed against the suspects. The 1st Suspect Uduak-Abasi Frank Akpan was given two counts of Murder and Rape, while the second and third Suspects were charged with the offence of Accessory After The Fact to Murder punishable under Section 329 of the Criminal code, volume 2, Laws of Akwa Ibom State 2000.
Facts of this case are as contained in the evidence of the prosecution witnesses and the confessional statements of the 15 Defendant, Uduak-Abasi Frank Akpan made at Anti Kidnapping Department of the State Police Headquarters, Homicide Section, and the Department of State Services (DSS) , which were admitted as exhibits 6,12, and 18 respectively.
The prosecution called ten witnesses, and tendered 20 exhibits to prove it’s case. The facts of this case are incapsulated in the oral evidence of the prosecution witnesses in court, I will summarize the evidence of a few of the witnesses which when considered together proved the prosecution’s case beyond reasonable doubt, particularly against the 1» and principal suspect, Uduak-Abasi Frank Akpan.
PW 4, Ifiok Ephraim Umoren is the elder sister to the deceased, MISS INIUBONG EPHRAIM UMOREN (late) and she testified that on the 29th of April, 2021, the deceased (who was awaiting call-up to NYSC National Service) left home for a job interview, Iniubong gave pw4 the phone number of the person (15t Defendant) who called her for job interview, just in case.
Later that day, PW3, Uduak Joseph Umoh, a friend to the deceased who was talking with the deceased on phone while on the way to the job interview till the deceased arrived the venue of the purported job interview alerted pw4 that the deceased sent her a 2 seconds voice note, which was not clear, and when she, pw3 called the deceased, she heard a distress screaming from the other side of the phone, and pw3 suspected that the deceased may be in trouble. With this information, pw4 also tried severally to reach her deceased sister on phone without success, same for the phone number of 1″ defendant which the deceased had earlier given to pw4.
PW3 and PW4 applied the knowledge of internet by subjecting the 1$ defendant’s phone number to some scrutiny to discover the identity of the 1s defendant, and succeeded in seeing the photograph of the 1st defendant, which they posted on several internet platforms side by side with the picture of the deceased, with the caption that the deceased who was invited for job interview by the 1* defendant was missing. As a result of the post on internet, PW5, Miriam G. A. reached out to pw3 and pw4 that she has identified 1st defendant as the person that once lured her and raped her, she then shared the address she was taken to with pw3 and pw4 in the hope that it may be the same place that the deceased was lured to (which turned out to be so).
Armed with this information, pw4 approached a police station in Uyo and reported that her sister was missing and that she believed that the deceased was in danger, but as usual the police told her to go and wait until after twenty four hours. The next day 30th April, 2021, the police from Anti Kidnapping followed the lead provided by pw4, and arrived at the premises of the 2nd defendant, Mr Frank Akpan (father to 1st and 3rd defendants) at Nung Ikono Obio, in Uruan Local Government Area, where the 2 defendant, Mr Frank Akpan was arrested, he informed the police that 1st defendant left the house to Calabar, Cross River State that morning.
The case was initially treated as a case of kidnapping, the news of the arrest of 2nd defendant, soon got to PW1, Surv. Iniobong Effiong Ekpenyong, the executive Chairman of Uruan, a nephew to 2nd defendant, and cousin to 1 defendant. Pw1 was in his house in company of the DPO of Uruan Police Division, and, pw2, Kufre Michael Effiong, also a relation of both pw1 and all the defendants. Pw1, called the 1st defendant on phone and he answered that he was in Calabar, and pwi assured 1st defendant that nothing will happen to him, that he should come back to Akwa Ibom State and see pw1 in his house so that 2d defendant, who was alleged to be ill, could be released from the police net.
With such assurance of protection from pw1, the 1st defendant left Calabar, and returned to Uyo – meanwhile in Calabar, the 1» defendant went to the house of the 3rd defendant, his elder sister, Bassey-Anwan Frank Akpan, from where he returned to Uyo on the prompting of pw1.
On arrival in the house of pw1, he was asked about the trending news of him abducting a young girl whom he invited for a job interview, at first he denied knowledge of the allegation, upon being pressed further by pw1, the 1s defendant demanded that the police DPO who was present should leave them, so he could speak to his relations (ps1 & 2) in private. At that point, pw1 & 2 who were at the veranda took 1st defendant into his sitting room and asked him again about the where about of the deceased, in the believe that the 1st defendant must have held the deceased captive somewhere, but to the greatest bewilderment of pw1 and 2, the 1 defendant confessed to them that the girl (deceased) was dead.
Upon this unexpected turn of event, pwi called on the DPO to come into the sitting room and take the 1st defendant and hand over to Anti Kidnapping Squad at the state police headquarters.
The 1st defendant, UDUAK-ABASI FRANK AKPAN was arrested at Anti-Kidnapping Squad, where he confessed that he had killed and buried the deceased in his father’s compound at Nung Ikono. such confession, men of Anti Kidnapping squad were led to the scene of crime, and shown where he buried the deceased in a shallow grave. Pwo, Inspector Samuel Udoh dug the spot shown to thited and to the chagrin of all the policemen, the corpse of the deceased was found, exhumed and deposited in the mortuary.
At this point, the case changed from suspected kidnapping to Murder, and the casefile was moved to Homicide section. At homicide section, the 1% defendant confessed again that he murdered the deceased because the deceased insisted that he should use a condom to rape her, and when in the middle of the rape, he removed the condom, the deceased became violent and hit him, and he retaliated and hit her on the head and on the abdomen with pressing iron and an electric stabilizer causing the deceased to bleed and became unconscious.
When the Is defendant saw that the deceased was unconscious, he used the jean trousers that the deceased wore, tied it around her neck and strangled her, then dragged the deceased body by the jean trouser from the room to a place within the premises where he dug a shallow grave and buried the deceased.
This trial has set a record of speedy trial in the dispensation of criminal justice (10 MONTHS). Plea was taken on 4/11/2021, pretrial conference was conducted by the Trial Judge, Honourable Justice Bassey Nkanang on the same day, and the Prosecution called its first two witnesses (PW1 & 2), and after the evidence of pw10, Mr. Ama Okeke of the DSS, Prosecution closed its case on 24/2/2022, and case was adjourned to four successive dates for defence. The three defendants testified in their defence respectively without calling an additional witness. Final written addresses were filed by the order of Court.
Final written addresses were adopted on 21/6/2022, and the case was adjourned to 4/8/2022 for judgment.
JUDGMENT: The second defendant, Mr. Frank Akan and the third defendant, Bassey-Anwan Akpan were both discharged and acquitted of the offence of Accessory After the Fact of Murder.
The First Defendant UDUAK-ABASI FRANK AKPAN was found QUILTY on both counts of RAPE and MURDER AND SENTENCED TO DEATH.
This is the summary of the trial and conviction of the murderer of late Miss Iniubong.
Friday Johnson ITIM Esq
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)
Akwa Ibom State+
