Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
For two years, the family of Princewill Ikenna, a 30‑year‑old youth pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Ikom, Cross River State, has lived a nightmare. On the night of Sunday, 4 September 2023, Princewill left home to get a haircut and never returned. The next day, his body was discovered in a grassy field with three bullet wounds to the head. His Lexus RX350 was gone. The crime was not a whodunit; within days, family members, using a tracking device in the stolen vehicle, traced it to a panel‑beater’s workshop in Lagos, where it was being repainted and its identity altered. Police arrested the panel beater, who led them to a pastor: Peter Uchenna. Under interrogation, Uchenna allegedly confessed that he had been in Ikom that day, that he had driven the stolen car from Cross River to Lagos, and that he had witnessed the killing. He named three co‑conspirators: Pastors Kingsley and Effiong, and a man known simply as Elvis Ntui, whom he identified as the shooter. The suspects were charged and the case was transferred to Ikom Court 2.
But justice, the family says, was systematically subverted. In February 2023, despite pending objections from state prosecutors and in the absence of the police prosecutor, the presiding judge, Justice Ashu Ewah, granted Pastor Uchenna bail on “health grounds.” The following Sunday, Uchenna was filmed preaching in his Lagos church, showing no visible signs of illness. “A discharge on ‘health grounds’ that permits an immediate return to full public life is not mercy — it is a betrayal of justice and a mockery of the victim’s family,” the Nigerian Bar Association Human Rights Institute later said in a statement. The case then stalled. The judge was redeployed to an election petition tribunal, and when the family petitioned the Chief Judge for reassignment, a new problem emerged: the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Ikom court failed to transmit the case file to the newly designated Court 2 for more than a year. That official was eventually referred to the Judicial Service Commission for disciplinary action, but the damage was done. When the case was finally relisted, one of the defendants — Pastor Uchenna — failed to appear. At least three suspects, including Elvis Ntui, Pastor Effiong and Barry, remain at large.
On 28 May 2026, the family, through a fresh appeal published by SaharaReporters, again cried out for justice. “Police have finished their job and transferred to the Ikom judiciary court since 2023. The court released the suspects who committed such a terrible crime. Up till now, nothing has happened. The suspects are walking free,” the appeal read. The family has repeatedly called on Governor Bassey Otu, Attorney General Ededem Charles Ani and Chief Judge Justice Akon Bassey Ikpeme to intervene. “We need justice for my brother. Over two years have passed, and the people who murdered my brother are walking freely,” the victim’s brother, Ernest Onyeka, said.
Following a public outcry, the Cross River State Government stepped in. The Attorney General ordered the Director of Public Prosecutions to take over the case, and the Ministry of Justice admitted that administrative lapses — including the court registrar’s failure to transmit the file — had contributed to the delay. The government has since promised that “there will be no more delays” and that disciplinary action may be taken against judicial officers whose actions hindered progress. The case has now been reassigned to Court 2 of the Ikom High Court, but the family remains skeptical. “How can a case with such clear evidence be delayed for so long?” one relative asked. “My brother was a man of God — he didn’t deserve this.”
The murder of Princewill Ikenna has become a test of Cross River State’s criminal justice system. The family continues to wait, still wounded, still hoping that the next court date will finally bring the truth to light.
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