A high court sitting in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State last Wednesday sentenced one Utibe Ita to life imprisonment for killing his father.
It was gathered from the accused’s confessional statement to the police that he had been having disagreement with the late father over family issues.
Delivering his judgement, Justice Bassey Nkanang, said Ita was originally arraigned on a one count charge of murder, contrary to Section 326(1) of the Criminal Code Cap 38, volume 2 Laws of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria 2000, in Charge No HIT/3c/2018, but had the charge commuted to manslaughter.
According to one Godwin Udoisang, brother to the deceased, “between June 5 and 11, 2017 late Oscar Ita could not be found anywhere around the neighborhood, this development prompted me to initiate a search party.”
Udoisang who testified as PW1 in the trial suit, said he first enquired about his brother’s whereabout from the accused, but the accused claimed he had not seen him
He told the court that after they had combed the surroundings and nearby bushes without any result, so he decided to search in the late brother’s house which he lived with the accused, then he discovered something like a heap of earth.
He maintained that at the homicide department of the state CID, Ikot Akpan Abia, one detective, a photographer and a pathologist accompanied the youths to the scene where the remains of late Oscar Ita were exhumed and an autopsy conducted indicated that the accused buried his late father still wearing his left shoe.