JUSTICE FOR GABRIEL BASSEY EDWARD

Its 63days after the cold blooded murder of Gabriel Bassey Edward at his residence in Ifa Ikot Okpon, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

The deceased was a 23year old native of Akai Ubium , Nsit Ubium, LGA of Akwa Ibom State and a final year student of the Department Of Civil engineering, University Of Uyo.

The Old student of Federal Government College Ikot Ekpene was also a freelancer writer, a hobby he engaged in for added income to sponsor himself through school. He was the eldest of three children(two males and a female) of Late Mrs Edward and Mr Bassey Edward.

Following his parents' separation and mother's death in 2019, the deceased and his siblings moved in with a relative but had their stay cut short by inhumane treatment.

Consequently, Gabriel and his only brother moved into their mother's uncompleted house located at Ifa Ikot Okpon, where the deceased was eventually murdered.

Being more of an introvert, Gabriel agreed with his only brother never to receive any visitor so as to keep their peaceful lives off the radar of public interference. This was a rule they both kept and heeded to until a neighbor (names withheld) introduced a senior pastor of Winners Chapel who on behalf of a young man in his early 20s sought for church tenancy at Gabriel's new residence not long after both siblings moved in.

In a bit to help the young man who happened to be a junior pastor sent to start a new branch in the area, Late Gabriel decided to partition the building to enable the said pastor identified as Prince Umoh of Essien Udim LGA of Akwa Ibom State conduct church services pending when the church will acquire a permanent property. A tenancy fee of 150,000 per annum was agreed to by Gabriel and the Senior Pastor(Names withheld), and owing to non-completion of the building, Gabriel asked the Senior Pastor to use the year's tenancy fee to fix the church hall. Still in want of payment, the senior pastor gave the rent to Gabriel in August, a decision that didn't go down well with the junior pastor (Prince Umoh) who had ulterior motive to usurp the money for selfish gain.

In October 2020, the junior pastor moved into the rented hall and commenced church activities. As weeks run by, he sought the deceased's permission to keep some of the church's items at their part of the building. Following the consent of Gabriel, the junior pastor moved some of the church's items into Gabriel's apartment which the deceased shared with his brother and was given a spare key to the apartment.

The unbelievable began to happen. The deceased's late mother's personal effects which both brothers held dear allegedly went missing and both siblings raised concerns. Gabriel decided not to confront Pastor Prince but confided in the Snr Pastor about the dismal development.

At a point, the door locks were discretely changed and the said theft stopped. The latest development didn't go well with Pastor Prince and rather than show his grievance on it, he sought for the possession of the tenancy fee for renovation, a request the senior pastor didn't see as necessary.

In November 2020, Gabriel was bent on retrieving his mother's personal belongings from the junior pastor but was asked by his younger brother to avoid personal confrontation as he suspected Prince was up to no good. So, Gabriel took to communicating with the Snr Pastor on the need to retrieve his mother's personal effects which he really held dear.

By the virtue of his quiet and calm disposition, and being a dedicated member of Christ the King Cathedral,Uyo(a Roman Catholic denomination), he often stayed at the church house to write and carry out church activities but was last seen at the church premises on Tuesday 15th Dec, 2020.

On the morning of Saturday 19th, Gabriel's brother, Emmanuel decided to go over to their maternal aunt's place following exhaustion of food items and had called Gabriel to inform and also asked that his clothes be removed from the line as he planned to stay for a week. He left the compound locked with padlock which often gave difficulty to open.

On Monday Emmanuel tried to reach out to Gabriel but the deceased's line didn't go through and out of worry , Emmanuel put up a post on Facebook inquiring his brother's wayabout having had funny feelings about something sinister. When all possible avenues for communication proved futile, he decided to check the church to confirm if Gabriel had travelled as he assumed. On arrival at the church, the deceased's brother was told Gabriel was last seen at the church premises penultimate Tuesday.

To satisfy his curiosity, Emmanuel went home and met their house gate locked from inside and so, he gained access to the building by jumping over the fence.

On entrance, Emmanuel was moved aback by the doors which lay open. He quickly made his way to the toilet to confirm if his brother took his travel items( sponge and toothbrush). However,the items were intact and on entering the bedroom, Emmanuel was met by a choking stench and when he looked further,he saw a stiff hand which stuck out of a mat. On close examination,he discovered the body of the deceased wrapped in their mat and squeezed in-between their bedspace.

The deceased's brother raised alarm and neighbors came trooping into the resident with waves of grieve, testimonies of the deceased and account of incidents on the absence of Emmanuel.

The accused Pastor Prince was seen by a neighbor (who was washing his car opposite the deceased's compound) entering the deceased's residence on the morning of Monday 21st December,2020.

He was reported to possess a bag containing items while entering the compound. Minutes later three loud screams by the deceased was heard by neighbors who came to the building's low fence to peep out of concern, only to see the accused struggling to lock the gate with blood stains. When asked what the screams were for, Pastor Prince Umoh claimed he fell off a height while trying to do cleanup at the building, and because he was a regular face at the premises, he was believed. He was also seen with a jerrycan of water before his return into the building. He later left the premises with the church pulpit and other items which was later discovered to be an act to pull a wool over his crime and confuse residents of his misdeed. The accused was discovered to have cleaned up the crime scene to evade suspicion, but unaware some blood had stubbornly stuck in-between the rough floor of the scene. Splashes of blood were also seen on the sides of the pot in the room.

On discovery of the deceased decomposing corpse on Wednesday, his laptop and phone was reportly stolen, while his late mum's stolen items were returned. The murder weapon which was a knife was among the stolen items prior to change of house locks and on arrest of the accused on Wednesday 23rd December,2020, insufficient evidence was taken and he was released same day only to be rearrested four days later. Within this space of time, an inspection of the accused's resident became nearly fruitless as deceased's plates and personal jotter were seen but without a trace of his phone and laptop. It was also discovered that the accused sent text message to his senior pastor from the deceased's phone feigning return of lost items by someone else on the evening of the day the crime was carried out.

According to reports, the accused had no cordial relationship with his neighbors who feared his unfriendly disposition.

The case had been transferred from Shelter Afrique police station to Zonal Police Headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State for further investigation.

So sad may God judge the wicked

Gabriel was my course mate in school. He was such a calm guy.

I still can't believe he hasn't gotten justice till now. All evidence points to the pastor.

It's sad. I last saw my very good friend on the 2nd of November which was "All souls day" in Anua. We spoke at length since we were separated for months due to the strike.

But today he is gone. All the night class and school stress gone.

Jibril, RIP.

The NICESSA family miss you, the NFCS family miss you too.

Wickedness in highest order.. ah!!!