– Anambra Assembly Rejects Police Report
By Ikeugonna Eleke
Reactions have continued to trail the confirmation by police authorities in Anambra State that two persons involved in the kidnap and eventual killing of the member representing Onitsha North 1 Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon Justice Azuka, escaped from police custody.
Azuka was kidnapped on Christmas eve while travelling home for the yuletide, but his decomposing body was later found on the foot of the Second Niger Bridge in Onitsha on February 6.
The State Police Command had announced the escape on Tuesday night, February 18, through a press release by the State Police Command’s spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, saying the two escaped while being led to the home of another suspect, who kept the stolen vehicles used by the syndicate.
Ikenga said when the operatives sighted the accused and went after them to arrest them, the two suspects who led them there took to their heels and disappeared into thin air.
The announcement has however sparked off outrage against the police, with many questioning the integrity of the police, asking how suspects in such a high profile case were able to escape. The Anambra State House of Assembly, for their part, rejected the report, asking the police to do all within their power to produce the suspects.
A media personality, Mr Uche Nworah, who questioned the escape, said, ‘The suspects already escaped before the current Police Commissioner, CP Ikioye Orutugu, took over. Why wasn’t the incident made public? The current Police Commissioner was not aware of the incident until Monday (February 17). This informed his directive to launch a manhunt for the escaped suspects and disciplinary action against the officers involved.
‘Why didn’t the former CP, Itam. brief CP Orutugu during handing and taking over about this? Is this a calculated attempt to sabotage the efforts of the Governor of Anambra State and the Government over their ongoing onslaught to dislodge criminal elements in the state?’
Meanwhile, another respondent who begged to remain anonymous told journalists, ‘What I have is that it was even one of the suspects that drove the police to the home of the man who keeps their operational vehicles, and when they got there, the operatives jumped out and arrested the man, while the two suspects in the vehicle sped off.
‘This is callousness on the part of the police. Why will operatives be driven by suspects? This whole story is not clear, and to know that this happened since after how many days and the police kept quiet, and the fact that the (former) CP, Itam, even failed to notify his successor shows that something is wrong. The IGP needs to beam his searchlight here,’ the source said.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Somtochukwu Udeze, has described the development as shocking and unfortunate.
In a press statement, Udeze said the incident cast a shadow over the otherwise commendable and professional manner in which the police had been handling the investigation. He said that the position of the State Legislature was that the fleeing suspects must be tracked and apprehended at all costs.
‘We call on the State Commissioner of Police to redouble his efforts and take all necessary measures to ensure that the escaped suspects are re-arrested and brought to justice.
‘Police should declare the escaped suspects wanted and publish their full names, addresses, and photographs to enlist public support in tracking them down,’ he said.
The disappearance of the suspects has no doubt reopened concerns about the ability of the police to live above corruption as experiences in the past had proved, when arrested suspects were either released or killed to stop them from revealing the identities of their sponsors.
