The Police Command in Anambra has described the killing and beheading of Dr Okechukwu Okoye, a lawmaker representing Aguata 2 constituency by yet-to-be-identified assailants as cowards and enemies of State.
Mr Echeng Echeng, Commissioner of Police in Anambra, said this at a news conference at the Command Headquarters on Monday, adding that the bodies and heads of Okoye and his aide, had been recovered and preserved for autopsy.
Okoye and Mr Cyril Chiegboka were abducted on May 15 and were both murdered with their heads severed from their bodies.
He said the abductors did not make any demand for ransom for their release before they were murdered in cold blood.
The CP said the Command would work with sister agencies in Anambra to ensure that the masterminds and foot soldiers responsible for the heinous crime against the society are speedily brought to justice.
“Anambra State Police Command condemns this barbaric act by savages pretending to be fighting on behalf of the people.
“Indeed the Police, other security agencies and defenseless civilians have been at the receiving end of similar gruesome attacks in the past by these enemies of society and progress.
“The Nigeria Police Force, Anambra State Command, stands solidly with His Excellency, the Executive Governor, Government and people of Anambra State in this moment of grief and at all times.
“No stone will be left unturned until purveyors of violence are totally eradicated to make Anambra State safe for growth and development.
“I would like to seize this opportunity to condemn in the strongest terms possible the mindless attacks on non indigenes resident in the state,” he said.
Echeng said the command has embarked on the demystification of the mythical ‘unknown gunmen’ while calling on people of the state to provide information about the activities of these hoodlums.
He expressed worry over seeming conspiracy of silence, adding that security is a shared responsibility where people and communities should ‘see something and say something’ for security agencies to act effectively.
According to Echeng, the Police will do everything allowed by law to bring perpetrators of these killings to justice.
“We are taking the fight to them, unknown gunmen are not spirits, people see them, we need information about them because we want to reclaim the entire space,” he said. (NAN)