The Akwa Ibom State High Court has sentenced 30-year-old Joshua Okon Archibong to death by hanging for his involvement in a string of violent crimes, including armed robbery, murder, and kidnapping along the Uruan and Oron waterways.

 

Archibong, a native of Ekpene Ibia in Uruan Local Government Area, was convicted on a four-count charge of conspiracy and armed robbery. He was identified as a member of a feared gang of sea pirates terrorizing coastal communities.

 

The court heard that Archibong was apprehended in November 2019 during an attack in Ndon Ebom village, Uruan. Alongside two accomplices—Udeme and Isaac, who are still at large—he robbed motorcyclists and road users before being captured by villagers responding to an alarm raised by one of the victims.

 

Known in criminal circles as “Benji Kasiah,” Archibong, a primary school dropout, confessed to a series of heinous crimes in his extrajudicial statement. He admitted to participating in:

 

A February 2019 attack on a boat carrying passengers, rice, and fish from Adadia Beach.

 

An April 2019 ambush at Akpa Inne Waterways, where two vigilante members were shot.

 

The murder of a police sergeant and the kidnapping of two individuals, for whom a ₦200,000 ransom was collected in December 2018.

 

A deadly shooting on August 15, 2019, in which a boat driver was shot for refusing to stop, resulting in a stray bullet killing a pregnant woman onboard.

 

 

Archibong also disclosed that the gang maintained hideouts in Inne Emman village and Ufak Ibuot Creek, where they stored stolen items and held kidnapped victims, including an expatriate abducted at a construction site in Mbiaya Uruan. To evade arrest, he sought spiritual protection from a native doctor in Oku Iboku, Itu LGA.

 

Delivering judgment, Justice Bassey Nkanang declared that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt. The court sentenced Archibong to death by hanging or lethal injection, stating:

 

“Joshua Okon Archibong, you are hereby sentenced to be hanged by the neck until you are dead or by lethal injection, as the law permits.”

 

 

 

The ruling marks a major breakthrough in the state’s battle against sea piracy and violent crime, bringing closure to one of Akwa Ibom’s most notorious criminal cases.