A 49-year-old farmer, Akaniyene Ignatius, has confessed to killing and beheading two elderly men in Abanyama community, Creek Town, in Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State.
Ignatius told police he carried out the killings to avenge the deaths of his parents and brother.
The victims were identified as 75-year-old Oko Okon and 73-year-old Okon Akpan. Police investigations reportedly led to Ignatius after the two men were killed on May 24 and May 25, 2026.
A source at the State Criminal Investigation Department said, “It started on May 24, 2026, when he went to the house of Oko Okon in Abanyama, Creek Town, where he met the man sleeping in his room. He strangled and killed the 75-year-old, who lived alone.
“He thereafter took the severed head to his late father’s farm settlement in the same Abanyama community and buried it in a shallow grave.”
The source added that the suspect killed Akpan the next day, allegedly strangling him before moving the body to his late father’s farm settlement, where it was dismembered and buried in separate shallow graves.
Police later arrested Ignatius while he was allegedly trying to sell a mattress linked to one of the victims. He reportedly led detectives to shallow graves where body parts were recovered.
In his statement, he said, “I am a farmer and I am 49 years old. I killed the two elders because they were among the people responsible for the deaths of my brother and my parents in 1999.”
He also claimed his brother was attacked by community members and later died, while the loss eventually led to the deaths of his parents.
Reacting, police spokesperson Ewa Sunday said claims linking the suspect to more than 30 killings were unverified and that investigations were ongoing.
