THE Anambra State Police Command has launched a manhunt for two suspected killers of a member of the state House of Assembly, Justice Azuka, who escaped from its custody.
The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement Tuesday night.
Gunmen abducted Azuka on December 14, 2024.
However, a security team found the lawmaker’s decomposing body at Second Niger Bridge in Onitsha, Anambra State, on February 6, 2025.
The police command in the state later confirmed that nine suspected killers of the lawmaker had been arrested.
However, in a statement on Tuesday, Ikenga said the commissioner of police (CP) in the state, Ikioye Orutugu, received a report that two of the suspected killers had escaped from custody.
According to the police spokesperson, the two suspects were cooperating with the police and had accompanied officers on an investigation to apprehend a person who had been buying vehicles stolen by the gang.
The police said that they arrested a suspect and recovered two stolen vehicles during the operation but noted that two other suspects escaped during an arrest.
The police spokesperson stated that the commissioner of police has deployed personnel, operational resources, and intelligence to re-apprehend the fleeing suspects.
The statement said the commissioner was taking swift action to address the situation and had ordered immediate disciplinary action against officers who were negligent in allowing the suspects to escape.
The commissioner said he would no stone unturned to ensure that those responsible are held accountable and that the suspects are caught and prosecuted.
The lifeless body of Azuka, a Labour Party (LP) lawmaker kidnapped in December while returning home for Christmas, was found 44 days after his kidnapping.
Azuka had regained his mandate following a court ruling that overturned the initial declaration of Douglas Egbuna of the Peoples Democratic Party as the winner of the 2023 election.
A similar incident occurred on May 21, 2022, when Okechukwu Okoye, the lawmaker representing Aguata 2 Constituency was abducted and subsequently killed alongside his aide, Cyril Chiegboka.
A reporter with the ICIR
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