More facts have emerged in the trial of a 36-year-old lawyer, Abasiesebanga Ikoiwak and five others, over the gruesome murder of her husband, 41-year-old Barrister Godwin Ikoiwak.
Until his death in January last year, Barrister Ikoiwak, a native of Eket Local Government Area, was a State Counsel at the State Ministry of Justice.
The family claimed to have learnt about his death on January 20, 2022, when the wife, married in 2017 with two kids, called the deceased’s elder brother that her husband had an asthma attack and died.
As at the time of his death, the wife was in Port Harcourt where she worked and had to travel down to Uyo. Upon her arrival at the hospital, she met her husband’s dead body, she narrated.
However, the family of the late husband alleged foul play and claimed that there were inconsistencies in the wife’s story.
According to them, the wife worked in Calabar and not Port Harcourt as she claimed.
When the family finally gained access to the deceased remains at the mortuary, they alleged they noticed severe bruises and wound in his body.
They also claimed he had deep cut over his left eye, his lips appeared burnt while his hands and legs had marks as if they were tied.
These revelation led the family to demand for full autopsy and reported their suspicion to the state CID.
The result of the autopsy showed a toxic substance, a popular rat poison called Snipper, in his system.
At the hearing of the matter before the Uyo High Court, a friend and classmate of the deceased in the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Barrister Sunny Anyanwu said the deceased told him in a phone conversation a few days before his death that he and his wife, Barrister Abasiesebanga Ikoiwak were having issues over infidelity.
He said the deceased hinted to him that he reported the matter to his wife’s family who invited him to a meeting in their family compound in Nung Udoe Itak, Ikono Local Government Area, but did not return home alive.
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Barr. Anyanwu who is the 7th prosecution witness in the matter, also said that late Barrister Godwin Ikoiwak told him that his wife, Barrister Abasiesebanga Ikoiwak was having a sexual relationship with her former boss, a legal practitioner, Barrister C.I. Odoh.
He said the deceased husband told him that his wife had stayed with a Catholic priest, Rev. Father Maurice Mbeke as a house help and the Catholic priest impregnated her and they had a child who is now 19 years old named after his maternal grandfather.
According to the prosecution witness, late Barrister Ikoiwak did not know that the boy who has been living with him in his house for a year, was his wife’s own, because the wife said the child was her younger brother.
He said the deceased told him that each time his wife said she was pregnant, he does not set his eyes on her, until after the delivery of the baby, when she will present it to him and say “This is your child”.
The prosecution team is led by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Akwa Ibom State, Barr. Joseph Umoren tendered the audio recordings which were played in the open court.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
