After Public Uproar, Cross River Reopens ‘My Father My Father’ Murder Case
By Benjamin GBOR
The Cross River State Government has revived the long-stalled murder trial of Inspector General of Police v. Uchenna Peter Chinweikpe and Valentine Alloysious, popularly known as My Father My Father, following widespread public criticism over alleged delays in prosecution.
In a statement signed by the Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Anthony Okon Effiom, Esq., the government said it intervened after a social media petition by a sibling of the late Princewill Igbunaju Ikenna accused the justice system of deliberate neglect.
According to the statement, the case, filed in October 2022 by the Nigeria Police, Zone 6 Headquarters, Calabar, had initially progressed steadily with three witnesses testifying between October 2022 and January 2023. However, the trial was derailed in February 2023 when the presiding judge, Justice Ashu Ewah, granted bail to the accused on health grounds during the absence of the police prosecutor.
Justice Ewah’s subsequent posting to the Election Petition Tribunal further delayed proceedings, prompting the complainant to petition the Chief Judge of Cross River State in March 2024 for a reassignment of the case. The request was approved in May 2024, but the case file was not promptly transmitted by the responsible court official, leading to administrative lapses.
The oversight, discovered during the judiciary’s 2025 annual vacation, resulted in disciplinary measures against the Deputy Chief Registrar involved. The case has since been reassigned to Court 2 of the Ikom High Court and came up on October 13, 2025, for the re-arraignment of the defendants. One of them, Uchenna Peter Chinweikpe, was absent, forcing an adjournment to October 21, 2025.
To ensure speedy and effective prosecution, the Attorney General of Cross River State has directed the Director of Public Prosecution to take over the matter from the police. The Ministry has also enlisted the help of the State Police Command to track down three other suspects identified as Elvis Ntui, Pastor Effiong, and one Barry, who are reportedly on the run.
Effiom reaffirmed the state’s determination to see justice served, assuring the Igbunaju family and the public that the government would not tolerate any form of procedural negligence.
“The Ministry of Justice sympathizes with the family of the late Princewill Igbunaju Ikenna and assures them that justice will indeed be served,” Effiom said.
