The Akwa Ibom State High Court in Essien Udim Local Government Area has sentenced one Pastor Uduak Umoren and his brother, Emmanuel Umoren, to death for beating one Iboro Joe to death over a plot of land.
Iboro Joe, a 45-year-old farmer and trader from Ikot Otu in Essien Udim LGA, was murdered when visited his sister-in-law in Adiasim Ikot Ekon, also in Essien Udim LGA, to offer condolences on the death of her husband.
The sister-in-law informed the court that she had requested the deceased’s assistance in assessing her late husband’s farmland for potential sale to cover burial expenses.
However, the wife of the second convict spotted them and alerted her husband, claiming that someone was performing ritualistic activities on their family land.
Upon reaching the farmland, the second convict initiated the attack on the deceased. His wife also summoned her son and her brother-in-law, who joined in the assault, using machetes and broken bottles.
The victim was left in a coma and subsequently died three days later when he was dragged to his family compound near the farm.
In her judgment on Wednesday, Justice Winifred Effiong, the presiding judge, found both accused parties guilty of murder and sentenced them to death by hanging.
She emphasized that the state’s prosecution team had conclusively demonstrated the accused’s deliberate intent to kill the deceased.