The Akwa Ibom State High Court in Itu judicial division has sentenced one Utibe Daniel Etim to death by hanging over the murder of his father.
The accused, a middle aged young man, was charged on one count of murder in 2016.
It was gathered that the accused committed the offence following an argument that ensued between him and his father on the sharing formula for the bush rabbit he caught.
The argument, it was learnt, led to disagreement during which he lost his temper and used an axe to hit his father’s head.
The deceased, Mr. Daniel Etim, a traditional bone specialist, is reported to have died later in the hospital as a result of the head injuries inflicted on him by his son.
Delivering judgment on the matter in suit N0 HIT/21c/2016, Justice Edem Akpan declared that the prosecution, having called five witnesses, including a pathologist who conducted the autopsy, has proven the case beyond reasonable doubt.
The presiding judge previewed the arguments of both counsels and noted that the accused, who was his only witness in the matter, had earlier admitted in his confessional statement to the Police that he hit his father with an axe on the head after an argument which ensued over the hunted game and, accordingly, sentenced him to death by hanging.
“The sentence of the court upon you, Utibe Daniel Etim, is that you be hanged by the neck until you be dead; and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul,” the presiding judge ruled.
