A story of a married mother of five dying during a sex romp with four Chinese construction workers in Akwa Ibom came to our attention when it was reported in Pulse NG, Wednesday, September 23, 2015.
According to the report, a woman by name, Mercy Samuel Akpa-Umoh from neighbouring, Ikot Ishiet was contracted for N40,000 to engage in a serial sex act with the foreigners in Awa Village in Onna Local Government Area. The story also alleged that she began to foam in the mouth during intercourse and gave up the ghost.
A reader from Akwa Ibom contacted our editors on Wednesday, pointing out some inconsistencies in the story and urging us to carry out on-ground investigations into the incident. Specifically, the reader maintained that there was no village named Ikot Ishiet in Onna LGA.
Further preliminary investigations revealed that the story first emerged on fringe blogs about three days ago with a political undertone, attempting to connect the story with Akwa Ibom’s Governor Udom Emmanuel, who is an indigene of Onna. In these reports, the deceased was said to be an indigene of Ikot Ishiet Village but married to a man from Awa.
One of our reporters based in Uyo was assigned the beat and immediately took off for Onna Local Government on a fact-finding mission.
Efforts to speak with the village head, Ette Idong Uffang, Wednesday were not successful because he was said to have been unavailable. But our reporter spoke with a member of the village council, Chief Isaiah Ekwere who said, “No woman by that name died in this village in recent times. There was no such incident but I want to urge you to ask the police for the facts.”
Ekwere, who is a retired civil servant, maintained that such a story may have been fabricated to bring their community to disrepute by political elements. “Awa is a peaceful place, our women are humble and respectful. This story is troubling,” he told our reporter as he gave him directions to the police station.
Our reporter also spoke with a petty trader in the community. She gave her name simply as Alice and she said, “I have not heard of such happening here. Young man, where did you hear this story?”
He also spoke with a man who identified himself as an auto-mechanic by name Sunny Udo Sampson. Mr. Sampson echoed the same submission. He said nothing of the said nature happened in Awa Village or even the nearby villages. “It is a fake story. My brother, nothing happens in this village that we don’t hear. I don’t know who is writing such stories but it did not happen here in Awa or even Onna,” he said corroborating the accounts of the village chief and the trader.
Our reporter contacted to the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Akwa Ibom State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, Mrs. Cordelia Nwawe on the matter. Speaking to The Trent on Wednesday, she said, “Nothing of that nature has been reported to the police or is being investigated by us in Akwa Ibom.
“We have not received such information of a woman dying because of sex in Onna or Akwa Ibom. But of course, now that you have called us, we will launch a thorough investigation and get back to you.”
When our reporter probed further, she reiterated, “The Akwa Ibom Police Command under CP Murutala Usman Mani, PSE, is a professional force. We are proactive in our crime fighting approach, we don’t only rely on reports brought to us, we also launch investigation on information we receive.
“Be rest assured that we are going to get on top of this and get back to you with our findings after an investigation has been conducted.”
An Uyo-based lawyer accepting to speak with The Trent on the condition of anonymity, dismissed the story as a hoax. “This report is the work of the political enemies of our governor.
“It is just sponsored propaganda designed by those who cannot get over their loss at the polls. Their mission was to tarnish the image of the state and Governor Udom Emmanuel in order to mar the celebration of the state’s 28th anniversary celebration, Dakadda.
“If you notice, this rumour started circulating on obscure online blogs about two days ago. It is obvious that they were hoping it would be caught up by credible papers and become the trending topic on the 23rd the celebration of our rising as a people and as a state and to tarnish the image of our state.
“It is unfortunate,” he concluded
Additional reports by Idoreyin Sampson and Ella Ukairo.
