Tears as Onitsha buries slain lawmaker, Azuka

… As Catholic priest is kidnapped

From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha

Tears flowed freely in Onitsha yesterday as the remains of the murdered member of the Anambra State House of Assembly representing Onitsha North 1 Constituency, Justice Azuka, was laid to rest in his country home Ogbeoza village, Onitsha.

This came on the heels of the kidnapping of   a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr Jude Onyeka on Thursday.

Azuka was kidnapped on 24th December 2024; his abductors never released him alive until they were caught and they led security agencies to recover his decomposing body in a swamp along the second Niger Bridge.

At a burial mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Inland Town, Onitsha officiated by the Onitsha Archdiocesan Chancellor, Rev. Fr Prudentus Aroh who represented Archbishop Valerian Okeke, the homilist, Episcopal Vicar in charge of Onitsha Region, Rev. Fr. John Bosco Okafor reflected on the lack of the sense of the sacred, which he described as one of the greatest problem of human society today.

Fr. John Bosco regretted that the youths of today no longer realise that life is sacred and that any human being created by God doesn’t have any right to take another person’s life. He called for repentance for those who shed human blood, noting that hard work pays instead of the get-rich quick syndrome destroying the society today.

“God created man in his own image and likeness and therefore we must respect that life that God gave man. It is only God that has the power to take that life when He wills and not anyone else. Life is very sacred and we must be very careful about how we treat humans. That is what some of our youths have failed to realise and that is why they are wasting human lives as if they are pouring water away.”

The priest said that even as security is everybody’s responsibility, the governments at all levels must double their efforts and do more to secure lives and properties. 

Governor Chukwuma Soludo in a remark condoled with the immediate family of the late lawmaker, noting that the death was a big loss to the entire state.

He recalled having a cordial working relationship with Azuka and disclosed that there were plans for some strategic partnership with him before the worst happened.

Governor Soludo said that the good thing was that his killers had been apprehended and that justice would surely be served in the matter.

“This is a promising young man with all his dreams cut off. Anambra State is grieving with you, but we shall take steps to ensure that this grief is ameliorated. We will do the needful.

“What is happening is a case of what the Igbo say that ‘when abominable acts last for one year, it becomes a tradition.’ All of us must share in this complicity. When people were applauding those who kill security agencies and snatch their rifles, this is what it has resulted into.

“But light and darkness have nothing in common. We are determined to flush out criminal elements in our midst including the evil native doctors who promote ritual killings and quick money making scams. Surely Anambra will return as the safest state in Nigeria. May we be able to rise up to see something and say something. With combined efforts and partnership, a new Anambra is possible,” Soludo stated.

The burial ceremony was attended by lawmakers both at the state and national levels, labour party stalwarts including the National leader, Mr Peter Obi and National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Yunusa Tanko.

Meanwhile, a priest of Onitsha Archdiocese, popularly known as Fr. Marshal, formerly the Parish Priest of St. Edmund Catholic Church, Nkpor was kidnapped days before the incident. He was recently transferred to St. Dominic Catholic Church, Abatete, Idemili North LGA, Anambra State.

Chancellor of the Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha, Rev. Fr. Prudentus  Aroh who broke the news in a terse statement sent to the Onitsha Archdiocesan Presbyterium platform, said the sad incident occurred on Thursday evening, 13th February 2025, along Building Material-Ugwunwasike Bypass. Ogidi.

He said that until now, the abductors had not established any contact with anybody.

“His Grace, Most Rev. Valerian M. Okeke, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Onitsha, invites us to earnestly pray for his quick and safe release as all efforts are being made to secure his freedom. We commend our brother, Fr. Jude, to the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Priests, for his speedy release from the hands of his abductors,” the chancellor stated.

When contacted for confirmation, the Police Public Relations Officer, Anambra State Command, SP Ikenga Toochi said the incident had not been brought to his attention.