Nkek village of Ukanafun Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom state is presently in a state of unrest after herdsmen macheted a farmer to death.
Mr Uko. Idiong,the Council Chairman made this disclosure to newsmen via a telephone call.
According to Mr. Idiong, Lucky Christopher Udoakpan met his demise on his farm after some herdsmen approached him and asked to feed their cattle with his crops. Lucky declined but the herdsmen were adamant and forceful, insisting their cattle must feed from Lucky’s crops.
This made Lucky angry and both parties got into a heated argument. The herders in a state of fury, brought out daggers and machetes, inflicting injuries on Lucky. The injuries Lucky sustained were so severe, Lucky gave up the ghost before he could get medical attention.
In Mr. Uko Idiong’s words ”The incident happened in Nkek village. Nkek village is in Ward 3 in Southern Ukanafun, Ukanafun local government area. Youths of the village called to inform me of the incident and I quickly went there with the House of Assembly member, Hon. Charity Ido, to inspect the scene.
“But before I went there I had to call my Divisional Police Officer, Edet Offiong, who was ahead of me. The police saw the corpse and took it to the compound of one of the chiefs in the village. So I told them to wait till I arrive.
” When I got there the youths of the village were aggrieved and I had to talk to them to remain calm. The villagers informed me that the deceased went to his farm to weed.
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“When the deceased was there he saw the herdsmen with their cattle. He told them to leave his farm because the cows were destroying his crops.”
“I directed that the corpse should be deposited in the mortuary that same day. It is regrettable and sad that the man died leaving behind his newborn baby who is still breastfeeding, a young wife and an aged mother.
“I told the DPO that they should look for the herdsmen who killed the man. But the police reported back to me, saying they could not find them as not even the footprints of the herdsmen or the cows were seen,” Idiong added.
Akwa-Ibom state Police Public Relations Officer(PPRO), Odiko MacDon, confirmed the ugly incident, saying “the policemen are aware of the incident and investigation is ongoing.”
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