Court acquits former council chair of murder charge

JUSTICE Archibong Archibong of Akwa Ibom State High Court, Uyo division has acquitted former chairman of Ukanafun local government council, Mr. Abasiono Udomfu of murder charge.

Udomfu was standing trial on a two- count charge of conspiracy and murder.

The former local government chairman was tried alongside two others, Saturday Etim and Akaninyene Iwuo, over the murder of Ime Atakpa and Akaninyene Uko, who were assassinated by gunmen on April 16, 2017 at Ikot Udo Obobo village in Ukanafun local government area.

At the time of the incident Udomfu, who is also a lawyer, was chairman of Ukanafun local government council under non- elective political arrangement called Transition Committee in which Atakpa was the secretary.

The matter, marked HUK/ 23C/ 2017 was dismissed and the three accused persons acquitted for lack of diligent prosecution.

Sequel to application for a fiat for private prosecutor, which was granted by the office of the Akwa Ibom State Attorney General, the matter was prosecuted by Alfred Edem, a private legal practitioner, who later returned the case file to the state’s Directorate of Public Prosecution ( DPP), on the ground that after studying the case he found nothing incriminating against the accused persons.