By Bernard Tolani Dada
A statement from the media unit of the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Justice signed by the information officer in the ministry, Effiong Edet, which was made available to LEADERSHIP in Uyo on Sunday, said that the trial billed for Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9am at the State High Court 6 in Uyo, the state capital.
Uduak Frank Akpan, the alleged murderer of the Akwa Ibom job seeker, Iniubong Ephraim Umoren, will be docked for trial against the state on the alleged murder Umoren on Monday.
The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Uko Essien Udom (SAN), will be the lead counsel for the prosecution team.
The statement further said that the matter would be scheduled for plea in the cause list and would expectedly lay to rest the palpable insinuations that the alleged murderer, Uduak Akpan, has been set free from custody.
The release also recalled that Iniubong Umoren, a final year student of the Department of Philosophy, University of Uyo, from Orukanam local government area of the state, had set out to look for a job to keep body and soul together only for her family to be informed by the police, who responded swiftly to complaint by her friends, that she has been gruesomely murdered by the accused, Uduak Akpan.
The statement equally added that the investigating team had exhumed the deceased’s remains, which was buried in a shallow grave, showing her mouth gagged and the neck strangulatingly tied and squeezed, eyeballs bulging and tongue popping out, all allegedly pointing irresistibly to one direction, murder.
The statement also disclosed that the police had since concluded investigations and sent the case file to the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP), which could not swing into action immediately because of the recently suspended industrial action embarked upon by Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).
It hinted that the stage is set for a titanic legal battle between the state counsel and private legal practitioners as Akwa Ibom in particular and Nigeria in general eagerly await the demystification of this tapestry.
