Iniobong Umoren: Police deny covering up job seeker's murder

On Thursday, April 29, 2021, Umoren, 26, was lured to Airport Road Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, before she was raped and murdered.

Umoren had shown up at the address for a job interview that never was.

20-year-old Frank Akpan confessed to the crime a couple of days later, according to the police, and remains in custody.

On Tuesday, May 11, 2021, investigative journalist David Hundeyin published a report in Newswirengr.com, in which he alleged that Akpan didn't commit the crime alone and that there is some evidence that the suspect worked in cahoots with a certain Kufre Effiong, a civil servant and Superintendent of Police, Samuel Ezeugo, among others.

The report also alleged that the Akwa Ibom Police Command allowed a desecration of the crime scene to conceal evidence, and that there were bones of Akpan's other victims strewn all over the site of Umoren's murder.

#FindHinnyHumoren: Umoren was found dead and buried Pulse Nigeria

Appearing on AriseTV on Tuesday night, Akwa Ibom Police Commissioner, Andrew Amiengheme, denied that the police had anything to do with Umoren's murder or that the police is trying to shield unnamed politically exposed persons who allegedly worked with Akpan in the rituals and organs harvesting business.

"It's most unfortunate that meanings and different stories are being read into what happened. We got the information on the morning of 30th that they were looking for Iniobong Umoren," Amiengheme said.

"We did our best and traced and traced...and a gentleman from the social media came up and assisted with pictures and whatever and we were able to get to the root cause and father of Akpan.

"There's no reason why anybody or any police officer will cover murder. This thing started as a case of suspected kidnap. It was after the arrest of Frank Akpan that we were able to know that it had gone beyond kidnap to murder," he added.

The police boss also hit back at Hundeyin on live television for insisting that the bones of other murdered persons were found on the scene.

"Social media is blowing it too far. We are open to any information from the public. But the police will never cover anyone for murder.

"The scene of crime was protected, but the rampaging youths of that community, out of anger of what Frank did, they went and ransacked the place. But the detectives had swept through that place before that happened.

"No other bodies have been found in that place. Not at all. There are no bones there. It's an uncompleted building. They saw some slippers and one or two shoes...does that mean that those are bones?", Amiengheme fumed at the journalist.

A police officer as suspect

Effiong and Ezeugo who were also mentioned in Hundeyin's widely shared report, have denied that they worked with Akpan to kill Umoren and other hapless victims.

Both men said they were on the call logs exhumed by the journalist because they were trying to lure Akpan home for arrest by the police.

“This boy is related to me in a way. He is my little cousin that did this thing and I didn’t want my hands to be connected with this,” Effiong told Premium Times.

“That boy contacted me on the 30th (of April) while in my brother’s house who is the Chairman of Uruan local government. They were all seated in his place with the DPO (Ezeugo) and DSP when the boy called, demanding for where his father was because the father had been arrested previously," Effiong added.

On his part, SP Ezeugo said: “If I’m in talks with him before or after arrest, does it make any sense?

“Who arrested the young man you are talking about? I did. If I had spoken to him before or after his arrest, does it make any sense? When you are doing an investigation, you can use any means, provided it is legally fit, to trace a suspect.

“The culprit is in custody as we speak.

Frank Akpan raped and killed Umoren, according to the police (Facebook) Frank Akpan raped and killed Umoren, according to the police (Facebook) Pulse Nigeria

“This case was reported to me by a girl from Lagos. I was not in the office then, so I called my boys. I told them to get information from the tracker and give us a specific address. When we got the address, we started moving there but unfortunately, the young man was not there but we met his father.

“After tracing the father’s conversation with him. We found out that the man was in contact with his son, that’s how we picked the father to my station.

“I told the DPO that this boy had contacted me. The DPO said we should see how we can bring him. That was exactly what I did," the police officer added.

The police has asked members of the public to furnish the command with more information as it continues with the investigation of Umoren's murder and the trial of Akpan.

Umoren's murder has garnered plenty of media attention; with former Senate President Bukola Saraki and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar weighing-in and demanding swift prosecution as well.