Uduak Akpan, who allegedly raped and killed Iniubong Umoren on the outskirts of Uyo in April last year, has a mental disorder, his father told the Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo, on Tuesday.
Frank Akpan, who is also a co-defendant in the murder trial, said under cross-examination at Tuesday’s proceedings that his son is suffering from schizophrenia, a serious mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally.
The testimony came as new a twist in a line of defence that has seen Uduak himself retracting his confessional statement to say he had never met Ms Umoren.
Frank Akpan and his daughter, Bassey-Awan Akpan, are both accused of being accessories after the fact to the murder of Ms Umoren.
An accessory after the fact is a person believed to have assisted another person who committed a crime to evade justice.
The prosecution accused Mr Akpan and his daughter of exchanging a text message in connection to a plan for Uduak’s escape in the wake of the murder incident in April last year.
While Uduak is the 1st defendant in the case, his father is the 2nd defendant and his sister, Ms Bassey-Awan, is the 3rd defendant.
Mr Akpan, a retired civil servant, started his defence on Tuesday. Uduak had earlier closed his own defence.
Under cross-examination on Tuesday, Mr Akpan was asked by Uduak’s lawyer, Samson Adulla, if he was aware that his son had any mental problem
“I am aware the 1st accused (Uduak) has mental problem and has visited the hospital twice in 2020.”
Mr Adulla drew Mr Akpan’s attention to a statement he had made to the State Security Service (SSS) referring to a mental medical condition he claimed his son was suffering from.
“From your statement to the DSS, you mentioned that the 1st accused person suffers from a mental medical sickness called Schizophrenia,” the lawyer said.
“Yes,” Mr Akpan responded.
“As of the time of the commission of this offence, the 1st accuses person was a outpatient of UUTH (University of Uyo Teaching Hospital),” Mr Adulla asked.
“Yes,” he answered.
Denials
Mr Akpan also said in his testimony that he only heard about the murder of Ms Umoren for the first time in the court, a claim his son had similarly made in his defence.
He also denied knowledge that the police went to his compound and exhumed the corpse of the murdered job seeker.
Mr Akpan told the court he spent a week with the State Security Service (SSS) in Uyo after the secret police picked him up from the Ikot Ekpene Correctional Centre.
He said he told the SSS that he was not dealing in human parts. He said he did not know Ms Umoren and that he was never a member of AMORC when he being interrogated by SSS.
Court admits phone as exhibit
The prosecuting counsel, Christopher Udoh, tendered a cell phone in his bid to prove the communication Mr Uduak allegedly had with his daughter (the 3rd defendant) over the murder incident a day after it occurred in April last year.
Mr Akpan was asked to read out a text message he sent to his daughter on the phone in the aftermath of the incident. He sounded in the message as emphasising to her daughter the need for Uduak to escape as quickly as possible.
“He said he wants to take flying boat. He should not be talking about somebody dying but escaping,” Mr Akpan read the text message from the witness box.
But the defence counsel for the 2nd and 3rd defendants, Abasiodiong Ekpenyong, insisted the message was only sent by Mr Uduak to his daughter during the proceedings on Tuesday.
Following the prosecution’s request, however, the judge, Bassey Nkanang, admitted the small blue-coloured cell phone as exhibit and marked No 17.
The judge adjourned the trial till May 10 and 11 for continuation of defence by the 3rd defendant.
Uduak allegedly raped and killed Miss Umoren in April last year on the outskirts of Uyo after he lured her with a fake job offer.
Her remains were buried in a shallow grave in Mr Akpan’s family house, where the crime took place..
The office of the Attorney-General of Akwa Ibom State charged Uduak with rape and murder. His father and sister face charges of being accessories after the fact to the murder.
They have all denied the charges. Uduak told the court that he initially confessed to the crime because he had fever that day and that he was influenced by the investigative police officer.
