11/07/2025
On the 19th of January, 2022, Godwin Ikoiwak drove from Uyo to Ikono after being summoned by his in-laws for a meeting.
He never returned.
Another episode of me seeing the teachings of Edo Baba , Leonardo Medici , Emediong Sunday , InDiscov , Chisom B. Oshienyi and others here, play out in real life.
Godwin Ikoiwak was a top promising and brilliant prosecuting counsel at the Ministry of Justice in Akwa Ibom State. He was married to Abasieseabanga, also a lawyer and a staff of the Court of Appeal in Calabar. They got married in 2017 and had 2 children.
Trouble started when Godwin started becoming suspicious of Abasieseabanga’s fidelity and decided to carry out investigations.
What he discovered were shocking to say the least.
He discovered that she was allegedly having an affair with her former employer.
Most shocking was the fact that as a teen, his wife had lived with one Reverend Father Maurice Mbeke. Ikoiwak discovered that Father Mbeke had allegedly impregnated her at that time and she gave birth to a son. Allegedly, the boy is named after Father Mbeke’s maternal grandfather.
When they got married, she and her family connived and deceived Ikoiwak that the said son was her younger brother. The boy moved in with them after marriage, and Ikoiwak, unknown to him, was raising a child from an illicit affair with a priest! At the time of marriage, the boy was 14 years old.
In addition (according to his friend), each time his wife said she was pregnant, he did not set eyes on her until after delivery, when she would present the child and say: “This is your child.”
These discoveries, and perhaps others, motivated him to confront his wife with the allegations and demand a paternity / DNA test.
He also reported her to her family, his in-laws. (I wonder why he would do that when it was the same in-laws that concealed the fact that his wife had a child before marriage and deceived him that the said boy was her brother.)
On the 19th of January, after appearing in a matter at the Federal High Court, Uyo, he drove all the way to Ikono. His in-laws had summoned him for a meeting to discuss his grievances.
He went and never returned.
His wife called his family to inform them that their son had died from asthma complications and that he drove himself to the hospital where he died. There was even a death certificate to that effect.
He was buried in February 2022. However, his family suspected foul play and started digging. Law enforcement got involved, DSS got involved, his co**se was exhumed, arrests were made, and the discoveries were mind boggling.
First, on his co**se, they discovered a deep cut below his left eye. There were bruises on his body, and there were marks on his wrists and ankles, suggesting that he was tied up.
An autopsy was conducted, and it was discovered that he didn’t die of asthma. He was poisoned, what they call Otapiapia.
It would seem like he was tied up, beaten, and forced to ingest the Otapiapia, and they stood and watched him die a slow, painful death.
While all this was happening, his wife was in Calabar, allegedly exchanging calls with her sister, her mother, and her brother, who were in the house when Ikoiwak came.
It was his mother-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and others who did the dirty deed.
After his wife had confirmed his death, she called Reverend Father Maurice Mbeke. Yup, the same one. In fact, investigations revealed that she and Father Mbeke had had multiple phone conversations on the 19th, the day Ikoiwak was to travel to see his in-laws.
Father Mbeke then called Reverend Father Gabriel Ekong, the Administrator of St Luke’s Hospital, to arrange a forged death certificate. Father Ekong then instructed Doctor Imoh Johnson to prepare the death certificate, stating that he treated Ikoiwak for asthma complications, but he didn’t make it.
Then Ikoiwak’s in-laws went and dropped his co**se at St. Luke’s Hospital. That’s when his wife made the call to his relatives.
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It was last month that the Court passed sentences on all those involved in the death of Godwin Ikoiwak.
The sentences bother me, especially as I know what the law prescribes for such offences:
• Wife – Guilty of Accessory to Murder – 2 years imprisonment
• Mother-in-law – Guilty of Murder – 10 years imprisonment
• Sister-in-law – Guilty of Murder – 10 years imprisonment
• Dr. Imoh Johnson – Guilty of Falsifying Records as Accessory – 2 years imprisonment
• Father Gabriel Ekong – Guilty of Falsifying Records as Accessory – 4 years imprisonment
The Judge noted the reduced sentences were influenced by defendants being first-time offenders, advanced age (mother-in-law), and a young baby for the sister-in-law.
Interestingly, Father Maurice Mbeke was not charged at all.
Thankfully, the State has indicated it will appeal, as it should. Because honestly, I don’t even know what to say about these sentences. An appeal is the right step, and we keep our fingers crossed.
Let me know your thoughts.
© @ Josh IJ Ogbeide
