The eldest sister of the late Iniubong Umoren, Ifiok Ephraim Umoren, who was the principal witness in the prosecution of the now convicted Uduak Akpan has called for the cessation of what she described as false allegations that her sister was murdered in April 2021 for organ harvesting.
She made the remark during a press briefing in Uyo, with both the prosecuting and defense lawyers presents of the 2021 murder case.
The press briefing was convened in response to recent claims allegedly made by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan in a viral audio-visual conversation with one US-based activist Dr. Sandra C. Duru, in which she alleged that Nigeria’s Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, was involved in harvesting Iniubong’s organs to save his wife.
Ifiok described the allegation as “a hurtful reminder, and traumatic to the bereaved family” and an “outrageous falsehood, reiterating that she personally witnessed the autopsy report, during which all internal organs were confirmed intact.
Recall that Iniubong Umoren, a 26-year-old Philosophy graduate of the University of Uyo, was murdered on April 29, 2021, by UduakAbasi Frank Akpan under the guise of a job interview. Akpan, who was later convicted for rape and murder, was sentenced to death by the Akwa Ibom State High Court on August 4, 2022.
Flanked by the Akwa Ibom Director of Public Prosecution, Mr. Friday Johnson Itim, and Mr. Samuel Abdullah of the Legal Aid Council, who were both prosecuting and defense attorneys respectively during the case, Ifiok expressed disbelief and emotional distress over the allegation. “How can someone claim that my sister’s organs were harvested when I was right there during the autopsy?” she queried. “This accusation is not only false but dishonours the memory of my sister and retraumatizes our family.”
She narrated how her sister had informed her of a job interview before her disappearance and how she played a critical role in identifying the suspect and aiding police investigations. “After her death, the police took the body for autopsy at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital. I was present. No organ was missing,” she said.
Supporting her statement, Mr. Itim described the crime as a solitary act committed by UduakAbasi, who attacked Iniubong after she refused to have unprotected sex. “He killed her in anger, buried her in a shallow grave, and fled. His arrest was facilitated by his family and the local government chairman,” Itim said.
The pathologist, Dr. Emeka Nwafor, who conducted the postmortem, also testified under oath in court in 2021 that while the body showed signs of decomposition and trauma, there was no evidence of organ removal.
Mr. Abdullah added that the allegation of organ harvesting had no basis in court proceedings. “Neither prosecution nor defense ever mentioned Senator Akpabio in connection with the case. The certified autopsy report is publicly accessible and confirms that all internal organs were intact.”
He added that there were 14 case files and 10 witnesses during the trial, and none ever made mention of any case of organ harvesting, neither did the name of any external individual ever surfaced, not even remotely, emphasizing that the culprit remained consistent with his confession of carrying out the act all by himself.