By Ikeugonna Eleke
Fiery Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Obimma, has said that the killing of the member representing Onitsha North 1 State Constituency, Hon Justice Azuka, was politically motivated.
He called on indigenes of Onitsha to demand explanation from the State Government over the death of the lawmaker who was kidnapped on Christmas Eve and later found dead on February 6.
The priest stated this in a press statement by his media aide, Mr Solomon Mokwugwo, to refute misrepresentations in the media where Obimma was said to have alleged that the lawmaker was killed because he was of Labour Party and not the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
In the statement captioned: ”Fr. Ebube Muonso’s Comments on Escaped Killers of Anambra Lawmaker: Setting the Records Straight’, Mokwugwo said it amounted to an incitement for anyone to say that the deceased lawmaker was killed because he was of LP.
He however maintained that the killing had political undertones and needed to be well investigated.
Part of the statement read: ‘Fr. Ebube Muonso has millions of people as members of his congregation all over the world, who belong to different political groups, and who represent different political interests; therefore, he cannot promote or intend to showcase any political party or politician at the expense of any other.
‘Fr. Ebube Muonso said, without apologies, that killing of the lawmaker has political undertones, and that the escape of the killers of Hon. Justice Azuka was calculatedly carried out.
‘As a concerned citizen, and as a shepherd, Fr. Ebube Muonso told the Anambra State Government under Governor Charles Soludo; the Anambra State Police Command, as well as the operatives of the newly formed Operation Udo Ga-Achi, to save their faces by ensuring that they re-arrest the fleeing killers of Hon. Justice Azuka.
‘He condemned, and will continue to condemn cases of insecurity such as kidnapping, armed robbery, and killings in Anambra State and beyond; because, whatever affects millions of members of his congregation also affects him directly and indirectly.’
The priest said the misrepresentations that the lawmaker was killed because he was of LP and not the ruling APGA were being propagated by Governor Soludo through his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Ejimofor Opara, to spite him.
‘Governor Soludo sees truth as an opposition. Mr Ejimofor Opara, who is also a Knight of Saint John’s International in the Catholic Church, has been accusing Fr. Ebube Muonso of working for opposition parties; forgetting that Ebube Muonso needs nothing from any politician.
‘Anambra State government, and well-meaning individuals should encourage citizens like Fr. Ebube Muonso who can always stand tall in telling the truth and advocating for an egalitarian society, instead of scandalizing him,’ the statement concluded.
