Man Kills Brother, Flees

The police in Calabar, Cross River State have launched a manhunt for a taxi driver, Nsidibe Akpan, alleged to have killed his younger brother, Etim with an iron rod.

The suspect who lives in Nyahasang, a suburb of Calabar, was said to have hit the deceased with an iron rod which led to his death.

The assailant and his brother who are both taxi drivers came back from Sunday service without any premonition of tragedy awaiting them until Etim’s wife, whose name was given as Esther made an issue of the debris of refuse burnt close to their one-room apartment.

According to Glory, a 13-year old girl whose father’s house is adjacent to 11, Edem Okon Street where the incident happened, Esther and her husband who attend Redeemed Christian Church of God came back from service to find burnt refuse close to their room and she asked to know who did it since there is an agreement among residents that all refuse should be dumped in the swamp.

It was the question by Esther that irked Nsidibe who was in his room. He had just returned from Mount Zion Church where he worships.

He demanded to know who was insulting the landlord and that if not that the landlord would not like it, he would have done something to the person.

The landlord of the house, Ini Soldier, told him to do anything and that he was behind him,” Esther said.

Nsidibe, it was gathered, took an iron rod, about two feet long and went after Esther.

“When Esther saw him, she ran into their room and met Etim, her husband eating rice. Etim confronted Nsidibe by asking him why he was going after his wife, even after she ran into the room,” she narrated.

Nsidibe allegedly struck Etim on the chest with the rod and he fell. He hit him again until he became unconscious.

Nsidibe, Glory said, started shouting “blood of Jesus, blood of Jesus, after realising what he had done.”

He reportedly took Etim in his taxi to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital where he was confirmed dead.

“He then pretended that he was going to call their elder brother. From there, he disappeared,” Glory concluded.

When P.M.NEWS visited 11, Edem Okon Street, the place was deserted. Apart from a malnourished cat, there was no sign of life. The tenants, Etim’s wife and Nsidibe’s wife have all disappeared.

A source at the UCTH said Etim was brought in dead and “the man who brought him said he had an accident and that he was going back home to call the wife and his elder brother but disappeared into thin air. The body has been deposited in the mortuary.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Etim Dickson, said the police have launched a manhunt for Nsidibe, adding that the landlord of the house, Ini Soldier, has been arrested.

—Emma Una/Calabar