Man beheads cousins, injures two others

A 35-year old man, Mr. Uwem Job, on Wednesday, beheaded two of his cousins, Mr. Akaninyene Job, 45; and Ezekiel Job, 36.

Two other cousins – Itoro Job and Ekemini Job – narrowly escaped death as Uwem’s machete missed their throats, but cut through their hands. They were said to have been taken to a hospital in the area.

Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred around 8.10am in Ikot Nkim, Ibesikpo/Asutan Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State.

It was learnt that Uwem fled after the incident and his whereabouts had not been known.

Akaninyene’s younger brother, Mr. Ekemini Job, told PUNCH Metro that around 8.10am, Uwem came to their house and told Akaninyene to come with him, saying that he had something to show him (Akaninyene).

He stated that as Akaninyene opened the curtain to see what Uwem had for him, he (Uwem) hit Akaninyene on the neck with a machete and severed his head from the body.

Ekemini said, “Uwem came to our house around 8am and asked Akaninyene to open the door and collect something he brought for him.

“Uwem had a 25-litre keg of fuel in his hand and had hid a machete that he brought with him.

“People who saw Uwem thought the keg contained palm wine. As my brother opened the curtain to see Uwem, he  quickly brought out his machete and severed Akaninyene’s head from his body.”

An elder sister to Akaninyene, Mrs. Christian Ekong, said they were at the backyard when the shouts from Ekemini aroused their attention.

“Ekemini saw Uwem killing Akaninyene and raised the alarm. As we rushed to the scene of the killing, I saw Uwem spilling the fuel on the flour. He then struck a match.

“I raised the alarm, alerting everybody in the house to run. If not for the quick intervention of the youth of the area, the entire house would have been burnt down,” Ekong said.

Ezekiel was said to have been killed few minutes after Akaninyene had been beheaded. The distance between where Akaninyene lived and that of Ezekiel was said to be about 20 metres.

An eyewitness, Okon Eyo, told our correspondent that Ezekiel was just waking up when Uwem called at his home and beheaded him.

He said, “We heard shouts from Akaninyene compound, but we did not know what had happened. The next moment, we saw Uwem go straight into Ezekiel room, which was next to his (Uwem) and severe Ezekiel’s head.

“Before we knew what had happened, Uwem had fled. We will apprehend him. We believe he is hiding around this area.”

When our correspondent visited the area, both bodies were laid in front of their houses.

Akaninyene’s younger sister, Mrs. Comfort Okon, told our correspondent that the killer of her brother and Ezekiel came back from Lagos about two weeks ago.

“There had never been any quarrel in the family. When my mother was buried on February 22, all the family members, including Uwem, were there. They were the ones who perfected all the burial arrangement, I don’t know why this has happened,” she said.

Bodies of the deceased, Akaninyene and Ezekiel, were later taken to the mortuary in a police van.

Efforts to reach the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Etim Dickson, to confirm the story failed as he did not answer calls to his telephone or respond to text messages sent to the phone.