The Akwa Ibom State High Court in Essien Udim condemned two brothers, a pastor and a motorcyclist, to death by hanging for murdering a farmer over a plot of land.
The convicts are Uduak Udo Umoren, a 48-year-old priest, and his 34-year-old brother, Emmanuel Udo Umoren, an Okada rider.
They were convicted of the murder of Iboro Akpan Joe, a 45-year-old farmer and trader from Ikot Out in Essien Udim Local Government Area of the State.
According to reports, Joe accompanied his sister-in-law in Adiasim Ikot Ekon to her late husband’s farm to determine how much she might sell the land for and use the funds to pay for his funeral.
Emmanuel’s wife apparently observed them and invited her husband to the farm, claiming that someone was attempting to bury a charm on their family inheritance.
Emmanuel, his wife, her son, and his brother-in-law were accused of attacking Joe with a machete and stabbing him over the property.
Joe was beaten to a coma and taken to his family compound near the farm, despite the pleadings of his sister-in-law and wife, who heard him scream for help and hurried to the scene.
It was learned that the two brothers continued to beat Joe at the family compound until the Youth President of Adiasim Ikot Ekon Village and other members intervened and transported him to a hospital in Ikot Ekpene, where he was reportedly rejected.
He was sent home and died three days later.
Justice Winifred Effiong, the presiding judge, found the two brothers guilty of murder and condemned them to death by hanging.
The court found that the prosecution team from the state Ministry of Justice showed beyond a reasonable doubt that the brothers murdered Joe on purpose.