31-year-old Man Turns Fugitive after Killing Uncle in A’Ibom

      A 31-year-old man, Emmanuel Akpan are on the lookout for by Security operatives in Etinan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State for hacking his uncle, Joseph Akpan, 67, to death at the weekend.
 The younger Akpan, a native of Afaha Akpan Ekpo village in the same local government area, has also threatened to kill the daughter of his uncle because of a dispute over land.

      It was gather that the suspect went to the house of the deceased to demand for part of the proceeds from the sale of his land after the deceased has surveyed the land to determine its value for possible sale. The young man was said to have told the deceased to part with three quarters of the proceeds, as it was the requirement by a cult to which he belonged to collect part of the money from anybody who sells land in the community.

     Ms. Ini Joseph, the daughter to the deceased  confirm the incident and informed THISDAY that her father has already told the suspect that he only took a surveyor to the land to assess it in order to know the market value but the suspect did not believe him. According to her, at about noon on Saturday, Emmanuel came to their home, stole over N90,000 and inflicted deep cuts on different parts of her father’s body, after which he was later rushed to the hospital where he passed away.

      She said: “My father only took surveyor to the land to assess it so that he would know the value of the land when he eventually sells it. But Emmanuel, who saw the surveyor, went to my father when he returned home and asked him for his share of the proceeds from the land.

    “My dad told Emmanuel that he did not sell the land but only took the surveyor to the place to determine the value of the land. He threatened my dad that if he did not deliver the cult’s share from the sale, he would kill him instantly. “Then on Saturday around noon, he came to our house when no one was at home and hacked my father to death.”

      Still not satisfied with killing her father, the daughter said the suspect went to their house and used an axe to break down the door so that he could also eliminate her, and also attempted to raze the house until people around intervened.

     She said following the incident, the suspect escaped to the neighbouring community and had been banned by the village head from returning to the community, as he was now a threat in the village.

The police in the area have intensified their search for Emmanuel who has remained in hiding.

Source: Thisday