Bassey-awan Akpan, a witness in the rape and murder trial of Akwa Ibom job seeker, Iniobong Umoren, has narrated how the alleged killer, Uduak Akpan, visited her after the incident.
Miss Umoren, a fresh graduate of Philosophy, University of Uyo, who was waiting for her deployment for the mandatory National Youth Service, was lured out of her home with a fake job offer on April 29, 2021, by Mr Akpan.
She was raped and killed on that day. Her body was later exhumed from a shallow grave in Mr Akpan’s family compound on the outskirts of Uyo.
Miss Bassey-awan, a sister to the alleged rapist and killer, Mr Akpan, was testifying in a State High Court, Uyo, at the murder trial.
Bassey-awan, a hairstylist, is charged for harbouring her brother, Mr Akpan, in her Calabar residence, Cross River State, for him to escape punishment for the alleged crime.
She admitted her brother visited her on April 30, 2021, but denied knowing that he killed Miss Umoren before the visit.
She told the court that at the time her brother visited, she had read on Facebook that he abducted Miss Umoren who was said to be missing.
Miss Bassey-awan said the brother did not respond when she spoke to him about the Facebook post linking him to the missing woman.
She showed him pictures of Miss Umoren who was declared missing then, she said.
She then told the brother: “Go and clear your name about the Facebook post I saw.”
Four months later, she was picked up by the State Security Service and interrogated in Calabar and later transferred to Akwa Ibom State for prosecution.
Miss Bassey-awan admitted reporting her brother’s visit to her father, Frank Akpan, via phone call.
When asked if she reported to the police that her brother, who was accused of kidnapping Miss Umoren, was in her house, she said no.
The judge, Bassey Nkanang, after hearing the witness, adjourned the matter to June 21 for the adoption of final written addresses by counsels.
The accused persons, including the father of the alleged killer, were taken back to the correctional facility in Uyo.
