An Open Letter to the Inspector General of Police, Dr. Kayode Egbetokun, and the Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, from the Onitsha Community.
The Onitsha indigenous community held an open town hall meeting today, Thursday, February 27, 2025, to review the developments regarding the murder of our son, Hon. Justice Azuka, representing Onitsha North Constituency 1 at the Anambra State House of Assembly. The meeting was attended by several hundred indigenes, representing the entire cross-section of the community. Many outside the homeland, particularly in the diaspora, also followed the meeting electronically. The meeting was presided over by His Majesty, Nnaemeka A. Achebe, CFR, mni, Obi Onicha, with the entire Obi-in-Council in attendance. This was a follow-up to our earlier town hall meeting on 10 February 2025 on the subject, where several questions were raised.
The meeting recalled that Hon. Azuka was kidnapped on December 24, 2024, in Onitsha. Notwithstanding the assurances by the law enforcement agencies and the state government during some forty-four harrowing days that they were “on top of the situation,” our hopes came to nothing when Hon. Azuka’s decaying body was found on Thursday, February 6, 2025.
The meeting also noted that the State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, issued a statement on the same day, February 06, commending “the swift and decisive action of the security agents.” He added that “their efforts are a testament to the government’s commitment to ensuring the security of all citizens.” He also affirmed the government’s commitment to ensuring that justice is served speedily.
The meeting further noted that Mr. Tochukwu Ikenga, the Public Relations Officer of the Anambra State Police Command, briefed the media on the following day, February 7, and was reported in graphic detail. He was reported to have asserted that the kidnappers withdrew N100 million from the lawmaker’s bank account before murdering him on December 26, 2024. He was said to have assured that all six suspects, in addition to the nurse, who facilitated the withdrawal of the money, and the native doctor, who prepared the charms for the kidnappers, had been arrested. He was also said to have stated that Nneghe Obono Itam, Commissioner of Police, commended the police officers and promised the citizens that the police will continually rid the state of criminals.
The kidnapping of any citizen is a matter of grave public concern, full of expectations that the perpetrators would be apprehended and their victim(s) rescued expeditiously. Onitsha people placed their trust in the law enforcement agencies and the state government to rescue our son. Despite the anguish of his gruesome death, the foregoing statements by the state government and the police were reassuring that justice will be done to the soul of the departed.
Unfortunately, however, the meeting noted that the story began to change. At the funeral service for Hon. Azuka on February 15, Mr Governor categorically declared that no money had been withdrawn from Hon. Azuka’s bank account because the government had blocked the account immediately after his abduction became known. Mr. Governor thus contradicted the police, which have not altered their stance. Then, on February 19, news broke out that two of the suspects had escaped from police custody on February 8, during an operation in Obosi.
The above developments raised a few basic questions in the minds of the Onitsha community, as follows:
– If Hon. Azuka was murdered on December 26, 2024, his remains would be far more decomposed than they were when found on February 6, 2025.
– Is it routine for the state government to freeze the bank accounts of kidnap victims, or was this a peculiar case?
– Why did the police withhold the information about the escape of the suspects for eleven days before disclosing it on February 19?
– Murder suspects would normally be handcuffed during an outside operation. It would have thus been impossible for them to elude their police guards in handcuffs. What went wrong?
– Did Hon. Azuka has to die before the “swift and decisive actions” of the police officers that earned glowing accolades from the State Government and the Commissioner of Police? They had forty-four days to save his life!
These and the questions in our press statement of February 10, 2025 are agitating the minds of Ndi Onicha and Nigerians as to the efficacy of the Anambra State security strategy, which the police is probably the most vital part of.
The Onitsha community respectfully demands answers and actions from the authorities to address the growing safety and security concerns in Anambra State. We are concerned about the investigation and justice system and demand to know if the authorities will establish the truth without fear or favour and with transparency and accountability. It is most hurtful that the police are now appealing to the public to trust them again as they work to re-arrest the escaped criminals. But trust cannot be regained until the police unravel all the details of the murder of Hon. Justice Azuka and bring all involved to book according to the law, and until concrete steps are taken to prevent such incidents in the future.
Given the unsatisfactory manner in which this high-profile case has so far been handled, the Onitsha community resolved to respectfully call on the Inspector General of Police, Dr Kayode Egbetokun, to take over the case from the State Command. We also resolved to call on the Government of Anambra State to restore confidence in its new security strategy by making good the affirmation of the Information Commissioner of the Government’s commitment to ensuring that justice is served speedily. We further called on the State House of Assembly to ensure that justice is served in this case and always; we all feel endangered! Finally, we resolved to review our community security system for greater effectiveness, working under the frameworks of the security agencies and the state government.
Chief Osita Anionwu: Ike Akatakwuani of Onitsha; Chief of Staff, Ime Obi Onicha.
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