Man to die by hanging for raping teenager

An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Ikot Ekpene has sentenced a 31-year-old man to death for armed robbery and rape.

Nsikak Joseph Udofia, an indigene of Utu Edem Usung in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area, was found guilty of robbery and rape, and convicted by Justice Augustine Odokwo.

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Udofia was said to have raped a 16-year-old student on January 21, 2018 in an uncompleted building in Utu Edem Usung, Ikot Ekpene.

Three weeks before the rape incident, Udofia, a secondary school dropout, and others now at large, were said to have robbed a shoe mender, one Gabriel Akpan Victor, on December 31, 2017, while on his way home from work.

In his judgement, Justice Odokwo found the accused guilty of the two-count charge, punishable under Section 1 (1) of Robbery and Firearms Special Provisions Act, Laws of the Federation and Section 367 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Laws of Akwa Ibom State, 2000.

In the first count charge of robbery, Justice Odokwo sentenced Nsikak Joseph Udofia to death by hanging, praying God to have mercy on his soul.

In the second count charge of rape, the court held that Nsikak Joseph Udofia shall serve a life sentence in Ikot Ekpene Correctional Centre.

“The sentence is to run consecutively as the offense of rape is prevalent in Ikot Ekpene,” he said.