Man Jailed for Life for Kidnapping Akwa Ibom High Court Judge

A Federal High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has sentenced thirty-year-old NKEREUWEM FELIX EFFIONG, to life imprisonment for his role in the abduction of Justice JOY UNWANA of the Akwa Ibom State High Cour. Justice CHIGOZIE SERGIUS ONAH delivered the judgment more than two years after Justice UNWANA and her driver, IDORENYIN EKANEM, were kidnapped on December 18, 2023, along the Okobo Esuk Inwang–Ndon Ebom Road, during which the police orderly attached to the judge was shot dead. Justice CHIGOZIE SERGIUS ONAH convicted EFFIONG and imposed the maximum sentence of life imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit terrorism, membership of a terrorist group, and kidnapping. EFFIONG was arrested on July 4, 2024, along Ikot Ekpene Road in Uyo, following an investigation by the Department of State Services, DSS. He later admitted in his statement to investigators of his involvement in multiple kidnappings carried out by a criminal group known as the “Bling Bling Marine Striker Force,” headed by one UBONG EFFIONG, alias “Condiment,” who remains at large. During the trial, the court heard that Nkereuwem Felix Effiong was the one that guarded the kidnapped judge all through her stay in captivity at Esong-Inwang beach in Uruan Local Government Area, has been sentenced for life. In his confession, the native of Ikot Ekwere in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area disclosed that a member of the kidnapping gang identified as Christopher Eyibio shot and killed the judge’s police orderly during the incident. The convict further disclosed that he participated in three major abductions, including that of Justice UNWANA. He revealed that the gang collected a ransom of N25 million for the judge’s release, from which he received N300,000. Effiong also confessed to the kidnapping of a pastor of The Apostolic Church in Oron and another victim whose family paid N5 million, from which he received N50,000. He told investigators that the gang frequently used mini-buses for their operations and occasionally targeted locals and fishermen to raise funds.