Murdered in cold blood: Aniekan Akpan story

Read the story of 39 year old Mr. Aniekan Ekanem Akpan By Vera Winns Onofiok of True Crime Magazine when you continue...

 

To say that Death is the inevitable end of all of our lives is not to say much at all. But when death comes from an accident or a mishap, it is considered to be 'untimely.' The grief of those left behind is unending, a scar on their own lives. But then, there is the worse. Death at the hand of someone who has mistakenly or maliciously decided that another person should bite the dust. It is called murder and it is a crime. In this case, one does not only remember the departed. We also remember well the murderer, the dastardly individual who denies another of his or her life in order to achieve personal satisfaction.

For instance, let us examine the death of Mr. Aniekan Ekanem Akpan, a 39-year old personnel manager of a small Lagos engineering company. Apart from the fact that he was murdered in cold blood, it is fearfully suspected that the perpetrators of that crime might still be in our midst or even in his house at Jerry Farm in the Odogunyan area of Ikorodu in Lagos.

When Mr. Aniekan Akpan left the head office of NLNG Nigeria Limited in Ikoyi on March 28th 2010 hurriedly entering the heavy weekend traffic to get to his Ikorodu home, he had no reason to suspect that death was following closely on his heels. Aniekan was very happy and had every reason to be, after all his second wife had just given birth to his second child, a boy for that matter. Thank God it was Friday and with the next day being environmental sanitation day in Lagos State, he would have plenty of time to rest and play with his family. Indeed, Aniekan Akpan had fantastic plans for that weekend. It would all begin with the sweet embraces of his two wives and two children and he was ready for that.

And so it was, Aniekan Akpan he reached home alright at about 9.20pm. After exchanging greetings and kisses with his wives and children in the sitting room, he moved to his bedroom room to have a shower and change his clothes. It was then, following a hard day's work and a final glimpse of his loving family, that the unthinkable happened. Coming upon him like shadows were the angels of death who, according to reports, arrived on “okada”, pushing past his startled family. Three strange men cruelly gunned Aniekan Akpan down right in his bedroom leaving him in a pool of his own blood; taking nothing and saying nothing, they left, speeding off into the night.

It was clear to all that Mr. Aniekan Ekanem Akpan was killed by hired killers but the question now is who hired the killers and why did he have to die?

There are still no hard clues, but facts are slowly emerging “Mr. Akpan was not into politics or any business deal”, said a friend who, on condition of anonymity told TRUE CRIME that “the murder was reported at Ikorodu Police Station but the Police are yet to apprehend the killers.” In this, there was no real surprise, however, our source also commented on a new and rather strange turn of events in Mr. Aniekan's Ikorodu home since his death. According to our source Mr. Akpan's first wife, Mrs. Paulina Akpan, is having an affair that began before her husband's death. “She is sharing her late husband's bed with one Mr. Samuel Sunday Akpan,” her husband's nephew,” he said. “Before the death of his uncle, Sunday apparently lived in the Akpan home where he served as a houseboy/washerman. But now, as the new owner of the house, he has also taken over his uncle's wife and his action is said to be supported by his father who is the late Aniekan Akpan's uncle.”

On August 18, 2010, the late Aniekan's second wife, Mrs. Janet Akpan, was arrested and detained for two days in Alade Police Station in Shomolu, allegedly for attempted murder following a petition filed by one of her late husband's relatives known as Namso Ndomfon of No. 8, Falomi Crescent, Shomolu. However, the family lawyer, Barr. Oscar Amos Ekere, based in Lagos, immediately petitioned the Assistant Inspector General of Police (A.I.G) and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, concerning the wrongful detention of Mrs. Janet Akpan. The petition was published in the Daily Independent Newspaper of Wednesday 22nd September 2010. Following her release from jail and attempted return to her Shomolu home, she was apparently driven away by Samuel Sunday Akpan and his new wife, Janet.

Seemingly, the sordid tale of a hideous murder is just beginning to untangle. Though Mr. Aniekan Akpan has long been buried in his home town in Akwa Ibom State, his siblings and other family members are still asking who his killers are and why his household is experiencing so much crises following his demise. In October, his second wife was reported missing but she resurfaced about three weeks later to say she wasn't missing but had travelled to the village because she was scared. Scared of whom? Scared of what? The family of the late Mr. Akpan call upon the Government of Lagos State and the Police to fish out the killers of their brother before another life is lost.