The killer of Sergeant Ekaette Dick, four years ago, has been verified to be in the custody of the Cross River State Police Command, the killer was identified as Effiong Edet.
Mr. Hafiz Inuwa the Commissioner of Police in the state, who verified this to Southern City News on Tuesday, added that Dick was before his death attached to the Mobile Police Force 11 in Calabar.
Edet was ensnared into the police net after going to declare a report of a separate matter at the Zone 6 Police Command, apparently forgetting that he was still wanted over the death of a police sergeant.
Edet had been on the wanted list of the police since 2016 due to the murder of Dick, who died in 2014 and had his riffle stolen.
Inuwa said, “The suspect thought that the police had forgotten about the incident. He had another matter, which he went to report to the Zone 6 Police Headquarters in Calabar, but he ran out of luck when we got winds that he was a wanted person.
“We immediately swung into action by verifying his identity and as I speak, he will be joining another accomplice that has been in the prison since 2016.
“This should serve as a warning that no criminal can ever go unpunished, no matter how long they try to be elusive. They must be brought to book accordingly.”
It was revealed that Dick’s murder happened over a dispute concerning a piece of land which he was there to mediate.
Edet saw Dick as a threat and he conspired with a group of cultists to kill him.
Ekpo Inyang a source, stated Dick had led his team to intercept in the land tussle around the Ikot-Omin area of Calabar when he was killed.
Ekpo said “The sergeant and him team were attacked in the area in 2014. He died after they cut him with a machete, which they had sharpened the previous day.
“They had already threatened the person who bought the land to settle them because they felt it was their entitlement. But when you kill someone, you will surely be killed someday.”
Mr. James Ibor the Counsel for the Village Head of Ikot Omin, stated that they were still chasing the matter even though the case seemed forgotten.
“We were motivated because a human life was lost. The sergeant had a family, a wife and children who were waiting for him to come back home that day.
“But some reckless blood-sucking hoodlums, who have no value for human lives, killed an armed man like a pig while on duty and took away his riffle; he must face the music,” Ibor stated.