Father of prime suspect tells court son is mentally unstable

The father of Frank Akpan, the lead suspect in the murder case of Akwa Ibom job seeker, Iniubong Umoren, has told the court that his son is schizophrenic and an outpatient of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.

Frank Akpan is standing trial for being an accessory to murder, while his son, Uduak is charged with murder and rape and his daughter, Bassey Anwan charged for harbouring her brother in her residence in Calabar in a bid to assist him to escape justice.

Mr Frank Akpan in court today claimed that on the day the said incident occurred, he was in the house of his secondary school classmate at Uko Eshiet Street, Uyo and only returned home at about 7 pm, to be told by his son that, there was an undisclosed medical emergency for which he advised him to hold on till the next morning.

The accused who is standing trial for accessory said his son then came back and told him that he was traveling to Calabar before he heard a knock on the gate of his house by policemen from Uruan Divisional Headquarters who later told him that they were in search of a missing lady.

He told the court that he took the police around his house and thereafter, was taken to the Police Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Uyo, where he was detained, until his son was arrested and himself freed from police custody.