Crime
Two Brothers Sentenced To Death For Farmer’s Murder In Akwa Ibom
Emmanuel alongside his wife, her son and brother-in-law were said to have attacked Joe with a machete and stabbed him with broken bottles on the farm.
Uyo, Akwa Ibom State – The Akwa Ibom State High Court, sitting in Essien Udim Local Government Area, has sentenced two brothers to death by hanging for the gruesome murder of a farmer, Iboro Akpan Joe.
The convicts, identified as Uduak Udo Umoren, a 48-year-old pastor, and his 34-year-old brother, Emmanuel Udo Umoren, a commercial motorcyclist, were found guilty of the heinous crime.
They were found guilty of the murder of Iboro Akpan Joe, a 45-year-old farmer and trader from Ikot Otu in Essien Udim
It was gathered that Joe had accompanied his sister-in-law in Adiasim Ikot Ekon to her late husband’s farm to assess how much she could sell the land and use the proceeds for his burial.
While on the farm, the wife of the second convict saw them and invited her husband to the land on the claim that someone was trying to bury a charm on their family land.
Emmanuel alongside his wife, her son and brother-in-law were said to have attacked Joe with a machete and stabbed him with broken bottles on the farm.
Joe was said to have been beaten to a stupor and dragged to his family compound close to the farm, despite pleas from his sister-in-law and his wife, who heard him cry for help and rushed to the scene.
It was learnt that at the family compound, the two brothers continued to beat Joe until the Youth President of Adiasim Ikot Ekon Village and other members intervened, and rushed him to a hospital in Ikot Ekpene, where he was reportedly rejected.
He was taken back home and died three days later.
The presiding judge, Justice Winifred Effiong, found the two brothers guilty of murder and sentenced them to death by hanging.
The court ruled that the prosecution team from the state Ministry of Justice proved the case beyond reasonable doubt that the brothers intentionally killed Joe.