Gunmen abduct Nigerian lawmaker returning home for Christmas

Gunmen have abducted a member of the Anambra House of Assembly.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the lawmaker, Justice Azuka, was abducted on Tuesday night along Ugwunapampa Road in Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Sources said Mr Azuka, who represents Onitsha North Constituency I in the state assembly, was returning home for Christmas celebration when the hoodlums attacked him.

The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the development in a statement forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday evening.

Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said the gunmen abducted the lawmaker at about 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday.

The spokesperson said police in the state had “activated operational plans for the possible rescue and arrest of the kidnappers of the lawmaker.”

Not the first time

Like other states in the South-east, Anambra has witnessed increased attacks by gunmen in recent years.

Members and former members of the state assembly had been targeted in some deadly attacks by armed persons terrorising the state.

On 21 May 2022, for instance, gunmen abducted and then beheaded Okechukwu Okoye, a lawmaker representing Aguata 2 Constituency in the Anambra House of Assembly.

Mr Okoye was killed alongside his aide, Cyril Chiegboka, six days after they were abducted along Aguluzigbo Road, Anaocha Local Government Area of the state.

Again, gunmen abducted Uzozie Chukwujekwu, a special adviser to a former Chairperson of Nnewi South Council Area and also shot his only son just a few hours after the news of the beheading of Mr Okoye went public.

Within the same year, two former members of the Anambra House of Assembly were abducted and then killed in separate attacks.

Apart from politicians, government officials, security agencies, and even clerics have become targets of attacks lately.

Earlier this month, retired Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Nnewi, Godwin Okpala, and his driver were declared missing in the state.

Mr Okpala, a professor, and the driver have yet to be seen at the time of this report.

The Nigerian government has accused the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for some of the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied their involvement.

IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria.

Meanwhile, in a recent effort to address worsening insecurity, the Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, declared amnesty for criminals and kidnappers in the state for the third time since he became governor of the South-eastern state.