An Akwa Ibom High Court sitting in Ikot Ekpene has sentenced one Christopher Udoh to death by hanging for killing his 11-year old son, Gabriel over suspicion of being a witch.
Udoh, a native of Obot Akara local government area, reportedly murdered his son after accusing him of using witchcraft powers to frustrate him for years.
The Court held that the convict, who had already admitted to committing the offence, deliberately killed his 11-year-old son for allegedly being behind his many years of unsuccessful stint in his business in Benin City, Edo State.
According to Udoh, his son used witchcraft to stop him from succeeding in his business.
“After my inability to have a serious breakthrough in business, I discovered that my son could have been responsible. When I could no longer carry on with the business, I was stranded in Benin. I had to return home with nothing”, he recalled.
He added that every attempt to break even in life became too difficult, even to get married “since his mother was no longer with me following years of hardship that she could not bear”.
“For me to free myself of such spell, I had to kill him, burnt his body and dumped the remains in a pit”, he explained and pleaded for the Court to be lenient and for God to have mercies as he was only being used by the devil”, he said.
Handing down the judgment yesterday, the presiding judge, Justice Joy Unwana, said he passed the ruling after finding the accused guilty of murder in line with section 316 (1) of the criminal laws of Akwa Ibom State
NATION
