A High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has sentenced a 33-year-old man, Ndifreke Isaiah Nelson, to death for the murder of his girlfriend, Emem Monday Effanga. Nelson was convicted and sentenced on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after he was found guilty on a two-count charge of murder and stealing.
Nelson, an usher in one of the new generation churches in Uyo, killed Effanga, a makeup artist, and stole her phone. The incident occurred at about 7am on February 6, 2025, which was the convict’s birthday. Nelson, who resided at Udo Udoma Avenue, Uyo, visited his girlfriend at her residence located at No. 102, Aka Road, opposite NEPA Line, Uyo, to use her phone to post his birthday pictures on social media. He, however, ended up struggling with her over the phone, slammed her head against the wall, and strangled her to death.
After committing the offence, Nelson fled with the deceased’s phone. On February 8, 2025, he was tracked to the church located on Nsikak Eduok Avenue, Uyo, during a tarry programme at about 2am. During interrogation, he confessed to the crime.
Trial Judge, Hon. Justice Ekpo Ntekim, found Nelson guilty and sentenced him to death by hanging or lethal injection for murder. The judge held that the punishment for stealing was subsumed under the sentence for murder. Nelson was represented pro bono by a legal luminary from Lagos.
