The Obidience Movement worldwide has condemned the ‘gruesome’ murder of a Member of Anambra State House, Hon. Azuka Justice Azuka, by the same gunmen who kidnapped him on the 24th of December last year.
Azuka’s decomposing body was found on the Second Niger Bridge, Onitsha, Anambra State, in the early hours of Thursday – yesterday, February 6 – apparently dumped there by his captors who had killed him after allegedly collecting ransom for his release.
In a press statement signed and issued on Friday – today, February 7 – the national coordinator of the Movement, Dr Tanko Yunusa, described the late Hon. Azuka, the only son of his family, as a quintessential public servant, who was the member representing Onitsha North 1 Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly.
The Obidients recalled that on Friday, December 27 last year, they had issued a statement urging the security agencies to facilitate the late lawmaker’s unconditional release from the kidnappers’ den.
“it is unfortunate that Hon. Azuka’s body was found lifeless on the wee hours of Thursday morning by security operatives on the second Niger Bridge, 44 days after he was abducted by gunmen,” the Obidients lamented.
“It is worthy of note that Hon. Azuka, who was on constitutional assignment on Christmas Eve, personally distributing aids and palliatives to his constituents for the festivities, was kidnapped along Ugwunabankpa Road inland Town, Onitsha and later murdered in cold blood by his abductors,” they recalled, described the late Azuka as an “exemplary public servant, who was passionate about bringing the dividends of democracy to the least people in his state constituency.”
“Issues of national security are synonymous with life and national development; Azuka’s murder and other such tragic occurrences in the country underscore the need for a state of emergency in the security sector. If people are not safe to carry out their personal and constitutional duties, how can society become a better place?
“The security of life and property is the primary responsibility of the government to the people.
“We’re, therefore, calling on the federal government, the Anambra State government and all the security agencies in Nigeria to rise to the challenge of apprehending Azuka’s killers and everyone else involved in this heinous crime and bringing them to justice.
“Importantly also, the government must increase security surveillance in the state to avoid any further occurrence of such an inhuman act,” the Obidients surmised.
