Justice Bassey Nkanang of the Akwa Ibom State High Court has sentenced Uduak Akpan to death by hanging for raping and murdering a female job seeker, Iniubong Umoren.
Umoren, a graduate of Philosophy in the University of Uyo, was killed in April 2021 by the suspect who lured her to his residence with a fake job interview.
She was also raped in the attack and buried in a shallow grave in the suspect’s apartment.
Umoren was job hunting while awaiting mobilisation for the compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme which made her come in contact with Uduak Akpan.
The victim’s friend, Uduak Umoh, who testified and also released information that led to the suspect’s arrest explained that she had to call for help after hearing her friend scream for help when she established contact with her on the phone.
The investigation led to the arrest of the suspect, his father and also his sister.
After proceedings that lasted for over a year, the court finally found the suspect guilty of murder and rape of the jobseeker and sentenced him to death by hanging.
Akpan attempted to escape shortly after the sentence was announced by Justice Bassey Nkanang, but it took the intervention of the police to foil the attempted escape.
Meanwhile, the court discharged and acquitted his father, Frank Akpan and sister, Anwan Bassey (2nd and 3rd accused) who were standing trial for accessory after the fact to murder.
