A man, Ekemini Bassey has confessed to killing his father, a retired
University of Calabar lecturer, Prof. Nathaniel Bassey, to claim his
N40m gratuity and split with his brother Odiong Bassey, still wanted by
the police.
According to reports,
police sources said Ekemini confessed that he and his brother got some
clues that their father, who was teaching on contract basis after his
retirement, was about to be paid his benefits and gratuity of over N40m
and they decided to kill him so that the money would be paid to them as
the next of kin.
The sources added that Ekemini confessed during interrogation that
they stabbed their father three times in different parts of the body and
stuffed his mouth with old newspapers so that he would not cry for help.
It was claimed that when Ekemini and his brother killed their father,
they tactically dropped a knife beside him to create the impression that
he had committed suicide out of frustration.
Unluckily for them, a number of people knew that the duo had been having a running battle with their late father.
A family source, who pleaded anonymity, said Ekemini and Odiong, who
are university drop-outs, had been making frivolous financial demands on
their late father.
Also at the university, the retired lecturer was said to have
complained to some of his colleagues that his children were intimidating
him into borrowing money to meet their demands, which did not go down
well with him.
So when news of his death came, people knew where to point their finger.
After Ekemini hired an ambulance to convey the father’s corpse to
Nsit-Ubium in Akwa Ibom State for burial, he was waylaid by security
agents who some senior staff of the university had got.
A source at the university said, “On getting wind of the death of the
lecturer, the university security authorities swung into action and
arrested Ekemini while his brother took off to unknown destination.”
UNICAL’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Prof. James Utsalo,
said: “Well, we cannot comment on the matter because it is a criminal
case and police are handling it, so we are still awaiting the official
report. Besides, the autopsy report is not out; when it is out we will
know what killed him.”
The Officer-in-Charge, Homicide unit of the State CID, Joseph
Inuyashi, confirmed the incident, saying investigation on the matter was
ongoing.
He said the police were still on the trail of Odiong, who is on the run.
-PUNCH-
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