UYO – Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has sentenced a 33-year-old church usher, Ndifreke Isaiah Nelson, to death for murdering his girlfriend, Emem Monday Effanga.

The judgement is in a series of similar cases that has drawn public attention to rising incidents of domestic violence, and violent crimes involving trusted church members.

The judgment, delivered on Thursday by Justice Ekpo Ntekim, came months after a similar capital punishment was handed down to a pastor of Winners Chapel in Akwa Ibom over a murder-related offence earlier this year, reinforcing the judiciary’s hard stance against violent crimes irrespective of religious affiliation or social status.

Nelson, an usher in a new generation church in Uyo, was convicted on a two-count charge of murder and stealing after the court found overwhelming evidence linking him to the killing of his girlfriend on February 6, 2025.

The tragic incident reportedly occurred on the convict’s birthday at about 7 a.m. at the deceased’s residence located at No. 102 Aka Road, opposite NEPA Line, Uyo.

Court proceedings revealed that, Nelson had visited Effanga to use her mobile phone to upload birthday photographs on social media. What began as a routine visit, however, degenerated into a violent confrontation over the phone.

During the struggle, the convict reportedly smashed the victim’s head against the wall and strangled her to death before fleeing with her phone.

Security operatives later tracked him to a church along Nsikak Eduok Avenue, Uyo, during a tarry night programme at about 2 a.m. on February 8, 2025.

Investigators told the court that Nelson confessed to the crime during interrogation.

Delivering judgment, Justice Ntekim held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and consequently, sentenced the convict to death either by hanging or lethal injection for the offence of murder.

The court further ruled that the punishment for stealing was subsumed under the murder sentence.

The convict was defended pro bono by a Lagos-based legal practitioner.

The ruling has revived memories of another high-profile judgment earlier this year involving a pastor of Living Faith Church, popularly known as Winners Chapel, who was similarly convicted in Akwa Ibom, underscoring the judiciary’s determination to ensure that criminal acts are punished regardless of religious standing or public image.