The village head of Efen Ibom in Ika LGA in Akwa Ibom State, Chief Essien Matthew Odiong, has been sentenced to death by hanging.
The murder of one Udoma Udo Ubom led to the monarch’s conviction on four counts of conspiracy.
According to the verdict delivered by Justice Edem Akpan of the Akwa Ibom State High Court, the monarch was found guilty of murder after the deceased was injected with a chemical substance that led to his death on the 26th of April, 2017.
Ubom’s brothers accused him of wizardry, and the village head ordered them to take an oath to prove his innocence before he died.
The court held that “Having sensed the consequences of his criminal activity, the monarch escaped from the village in 2017 and returned in 2019, when the police arrested him.”
According to the court, the chemical substance administered via syringe on the deceased’s buttocks was the cause of his death.
The judge sentenced the monarch, 82, to death by hanging for murder, seven years imprisonment with hard labour for overseeing an unlawful trial by ordeal, and three years imprisonment for conspiring with others who are yet to be apprehended by the authorities.
Odiong has 60 children with his 12 wives.
