A community in shock is demanding government intervention following the gruesome murder and dismemberment of an indigenous elder, Okon Bassey Okon Ansa, by a suspect who has allegedly confessed to killing 30 people.
The tragedy has left the victim’s daughter, Basseyanwan Okon Bassey, deeply traumatized after she personally discovered the crime scene.
According to a report initially published by Negroid Haven on June 12, 2026, the nightmare began last month after Basseyanwan returned from a brief trip to visit her daughter. Upon hearing local rumors of a murder, she went to check on her elderly father at his residence.
“When I got to his house, the door was open and the room was very disorganized, with water all over the floor, blood on the walls, and other disturbing signs,” Basseyanwan recounted.
She immediately raised the alarm, prompting a community-wide search. The search led to a compound in the Otu Idim area, where search parties uncovered shallow graves disguised with plantain and pineapple suckers.
Inside, they found the dismembered remains of the elderly man.
“Seeing my father’s lifeless body dismantled into pieces made me faint several times,” Basseyanwan said. “I was not myself.”
The killers had severed the victim’s head and buried it in a separate grave covered in ants, while the torso was hidden beneath a planted plantain sucker.
The prime suspect, 30-year-old Akaniyene Ignatius Eshiet, originally from the Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, has been arrested alongside his girlfriend, Uduak Essien.
Eshiet is accused of murdering both Okon Bassey and another victim, Okokon Akpan Eshiet. Chillingly, the suspect has reportedly confessed to killing a total of 30 people.
A subsequent search of the suspect’s home revealed a targeted fixation on the victim’s family. Search properties found include wedding portraits and photos of the victim’s daughter, the specific cap the deceased wore to his daughter’s wedding, a music player belonging to the second murder victim.
Basseyanwan revealed that the suspect had previously threatened her father. The friction began when the elderly man caught the suspect and his girlfriend in an intimate act in his backyard and condemned their behavior. Relations further deteriorated when the suspect’s girlfriend improperly stored luggage on the victim’s property, prompting him to demand its removal.
“All these indicate that the duo got back at my father by killing him,” Basseyanwan stated.
She firmly dismissed claims made by the suspect during interrogation that he was avenging his parents’ deaths, clarifying that the suspect’s father had died of natural causes years ago, and his mother had simply relocated.
While police investigations remain active and the primary duo is in custody, tension hangs heavy over Ukim Ita. The suspect’s brother reportedly fled the crime scene with a firearm and remains at large.
Residents who have previously been forced to flee their ancestral homes due to violence, express deep anxiety that if the suspects are ever released, “he would continue from where he stopped.”
Plagued by the haunting final memories of her father, Basseyanwan has made a direct appeal to law enforcement and political leaders: “Finally, I ask the government to intervene.”
