‘Soldier’ arrested over ‘killing’ of businessman in Akwa Ibom

Christopher Enobong, a 41-year-old businessman, has been found dead in Akwa Ibom hours after he was declared missing.

Enobong was said to have left his residence at Port Harcourt, the Rivers capital, for Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom on Sunday morning.

On his way to Akwa Ibom, the businessman was said to have gone missing after contacting a friend that he was at a military checkpoint.

His dead body was later reportedly found in a bush.

Speaking with TheCable on the incident, a friend of the deceased who did not want to be named, said he received a call from Enobong’s wife on Sunday evening that she had not seen her husband.

“On Sunday, I was in church. My friend left NTA area 1, Port Harcourt, to Akwa Ibom, Ikot Abasi to be precise. The last time he called me was when he was at the military checkpoint in Akwa Ibom, before you get to Ete bridge. The time should be around 2pm. I was still in church,” he said.

“After that, we did not talk again. When I got home in the evening, his wife started calling, asking if her husband was with me. I said ‘no’, that he travelled. She said that he told her he would be travelling and that she had been calling the line, but it was not going through.

“I started calling the line. None of his lines were going through. I knew something might be wrong, because this is a man whose phone does not go off.

“The next morning, the wife called me and asked if I heard from him. I said ‘no’. I asked whether she had called the sister in the village to see if he was in the village. She said the sister said she had not seen him.”

According to the friend, on Monday, a search party set out to find out if Enobong had an accident on his way to Akwa Ibom.

He added that during the search, it was discovered that the body of the deceased was earlier seen in a bush along the east-west road in Akwa Ibom by some persons who reported it to the police.

He noted that the body of the deceased was evacuated by officers attached to the Ikot Abasi division.

According to the friend, the car of the deceased has a tracking device, with which the vehicle was traced to a guest house in Ukanafun LGA in Akwa Ibom, and the family members reported the location of the car at the Ikot Abasi police station.

Police officers were said to have proceeded to the location at Ukanafun LGA, and on getting to the hotel, the car was found with a man identified as a soldier.

The deceased’s friend said one AK-47 rifle was found in the booth of the car and uniforms appearing to be that of the Nigerian army.

When TheCable contacted Odiko Macdon, Akwa Ibom police spokesperson, he did not respond to telephone calls and text message.

However, Amiengheme Andrew, the state police commissioner, said the arrested soldier is currently in custody, but when asked for details, he directed further enquiries to the command’s spokesperson.

Meanwhile, the police spokesperson hadn’t responded to calls as of the time of this report.