NEWS RELEASE

OUTRAGEOUS SENTENCES: A CALL FOR JUSTICE FOR OUR MURDERED GODWIN IKOIWAK ESQ OF NBA-UYO BRANCH

I am frightened and outraged by the judgment of Hon. Justice Bassey Nkanang of the Akwa Ibom State High Court in Charge No. HU/50/2022 in the case of the heinous murder of Godwin Ikoiwak Esq, a lawyer with the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Justice.

I dare to say that the court’s lenient sentences are a travesty of justice and a slap on the faces of all Nigerian lawyers having regard to the circumstances of the case.

Late Godwin Ikoiwak was a learned colleague. He deserves justice even in death, and we owe him a duty to get him justice.

The Honourable Court found that Godwin Ikoiwak’s death was caused by poisoning from ingested Organophosphate (Ota piapia) at his mother-in-law’s house, where he had visited. The autopsy report also established unexplained physical injuries on the left eye socket, neck, and ankle, indicating a violent and painful death.

Despite this heinous crime, the convicts upon conviction received shockingly lenient sentences:

– 10 years for Margaret Patrick Umoh (mother-in-law) and Owoidoho Patrick Umoh (sister-in-law) who were convicted for murder!
– 2 years for Abasieseabanga Godwin Ikoiwak (wife), who was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact.
– 4 years for Rev. Father Gabriel Ekong.

If the above was not shocking enough, Rev. Father Gabriel Ekong was reportedly granted bail by Hon. Justice Winifred Umohandi of the Akwa Ibom High Court just 12 days after sentencing by Hon. Justice Bassey Nkanang!

I have no doubt that this will pass as a gross miscarriage of justice in the eyes of the reasonable man. The mandatory death sentence prescribed by law for murder convictions has been flagrantly disregarded by the Honourable court. The life of a lawyer is not this cheap, and it is unconscionable that the court would treat it as such by neglecting to impose the mandatory death sentence as prescribed by law upon finding the convicts guilty of murder.

Therefore, I hereby passionately and fervently demand that:

1. The Honourable Attorney-General of Akwa Ibom appeals the sentences immediately.
2. The NBA President and my good friend, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, and the Chairman of NBA-Uyo branch, take urgent action to ensure justice is served in accordance with extant laws.
3. The NBA forwards the judgment to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for disciplinary action against Abasieseabanga Godwin Ikoiwak, the wife of our murdered colleague.

I call on the Nigerian Bar Association and all learned colleagues of good conscience to stand together to demand justice for late Godwin Ikoiwak, Esq.

Our welfare must be of utmost priority even in death. Anything less would be a betrayal of trust and a failure to protect our own and the laying of a dangerous future for ourselves.

John Aikpokpo-Martins.
Let’s Do It….for ourselves.

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