Akwa Ibom Court Sentences Man to Death for Beheading Brother Over Alleged Witchcraft
The Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has sentenced 29-year-old Akaninyene Thomas Okpon to death by hanging for the brutal murder of his elder brother, whom he accused of witchcraft and being responsible for his misfortunes.
Justice Okon Okon delivered the ruling on Thursday in case HU/5C/2019, declaring that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt through the defendant’s confessional statement and corroborating evidence presented in court.
The incident, which occurred in 2018 in Ikot Abasi Asutan, Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, involved Akaninyene and his late brother, 37-year-old Ime Thomas Okpon who was initially co-accused but died in custody before the trial concluded.
According to court findings, the two siblings ambushed their older brother, Friday Thomas Enyenokpon, while he was checking his hunting traps. They decapitated him and buried the severed head separately, an act that stunned the local community.
Justice Okon noted that Akaninyene, a primary school dropout and father of three, had previously issued threats against the deceased and other family members. He later led police investigators to the scene of the crime where the victim’s remains were recovered.
“The sentence of the court upon you, Akaninyene Thomas Okpon, is that you be hanged by the neck until you are dead,” the judge ruled.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of the murder weapons two machetes admitted as Exhibits 1 and 1A to the state government.
This judgment brings closure to a case that drew widespread condemnation due to its disturbing nature and the role of harmful traditional beliefs in the act.
