Court sentences Akpan to death for rape, murder of job seeker, Umoren

A High Court in Akwa Ibom on Thursday sentenced Uduak Akpan to death by hanging for the murder of a job seeker, Iniubong Umoren.

Umoren, a graduate of Philosophy, University of Uyo, awaiting mobilisation for the compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, was killed on April 2021, after she was tricked to believing she was going for a job interview.

The trial judge, Justice Bassey Nkanang, however, discharged and acquitted the convict’s father, Frank Akpan and sister, Bassey Anwan, who were also standing trial for the rape and murder of the 24-year-old University of Uyo graduate after he lured her with the offer of a job.

While delivering the court’s verdict, Justice Nkanang said the prosecution had proven its case beyond every reasonable doubt and established the convict’s guilt and the court had no option but to sentence him to death.

“The defendant, Uduak Frank Akpan confessed that “I first used condom to have sex with Iniubong Umoren and later removed the condom because I did not enjoy the sex.

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“She became infuriated and I reached out to a stabilizer and a box iron and used it to hit her abdominal part and started to bleed. I hit her again and she screamed. I used her jean trousers and strangled her and she became lifeless,” the judge recounted Uduak’s initial confession when he was arrested.

“The use of dangerous weapons such as a stabilizer and a box iron to attack delicate parts of the human body like the head is a clear pointer that there was an intention to cause bodily harm and that death was probable the consequences of the action,” Nkanang said.

However, there was mild drama as the convict attempted to escape from the court room immediately the sentence was announced but was quickly apprehended by police officers before he could jump out of a window.

Uduak Akpan who was 20 when he allegedly committed the crime was arrested in May, 2021, following the rape and brutal murder of Iniubong whom he had lured to attend an interview for a non-existent job interview.

He reportedly raped and strangled her to death before burying her in his father’s compound in the Nung Ikono Obio village in Uruan local government area of the state.

When he was paraded at the State Police Headquarters in Uyo, Uduak had confessed to raping and strangling the victim to death after luring her through advertising for phoney job vacancies.

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