Pastor, brother sentenced to death for murder in Akwa Ibom

A state High Court in Essien Udim Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, on Wednesday, sentenced a pastor, Uduak Umoren, and his brother, Emmanuel Umoren, to death for the murder of a 45-year-old farmer and trader.

The two beat their victim, Iboro Joe, to death over a piece of land in Essien Udim, according to a report by Punch newspaper.

The Punch reported that the convicts hail from Essien Udim.

The slain man, Mr Joe, who hailed from Essien Udim, too, had visited his sister-in-law in Adiasim Ikot Ekon, a community in Essien Udim Local Government Area, to condole with her on her husband’s death.

While at Adiasim Ikot Ekon, Mr Joe had accompanied the widow to her late husband’s farmland to figure out how much she could sell the farmland and use the proceeds for the burial of her late husband, according to the woman’s testimony in court.

The woman told the court that the pastor and his brother hurried to the farmland in response to a false alarm that Mr Joe was trying to bury charms in the farmland

“She told the court that arriving on the farmland, the second convict started beating the deceased, while his wife also invited her son and her brother-in-law who joined in the fray, cutting the deceased with a machete and broken bottles,” the paper reported.

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Justice Winifred Effiong found the two brothers guilty of murder and sentenced them to death by hanging.

“The prosecution team from the State Ministry of Justice had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt. The accused did intentionally kill the deceased,” the judge said.