Thread by @OzorNdiOzor

“The Aftermath of the death of lawmaker Hon. Justice Azuka who was Kidnapped, murdered shows the level of wicked politics practiced by Anambra state government led by Prof Charles Soludo— politics of Dead compassion

Rather than appointing or supporting the widow, APGA fielded

a rival candidate against Mrs. Azuka(who’s trying to claim back her late husband position) in the by-election, drawing ire from the All Progressives Congress (APC), which questioned Soludo: "How do you feel fielding a candidate to challenge the wife of a lawmaker abducted and murdered under your watch?""

I've been digging into this story for months now, piecing together whispers from insiders, police reports that read like half-finished puzzles, and the heartbroken pleas of a widow turned warrior.

It started on December 24, 2024, right in the heart of Onitsha's Inland Town. Hon. Justice Azuka, a fiery Labour Party lawmaker representing Onitsha North 1 in the Anambra State House of Assembly, was heading home for the holidays when gunmen ambushed him along Ugwunabakpa Road. Azuka was a vocal politician—he was an opposition voice, a guy who fought for his community.

The abductors didn't waste time; they drained ₦100 million from his bank accounts over the next two days, then executed him with cold precision—two shots to the head on December 26. His body, left to rot, wasn't discovered until early February 2025 at the base of the Second Niger Bridge, a gruesome find that shocked even the most jaded residents.

But what remains shocking is how “N100,000 million left the account of a man officially and publicly known to be kidnapped.”

Well, The police jumped in quick enough, parading eight suspects who'd confessed to the crime, including some young guns linked to the syndicate. But here's where the plot thickens—and where the accusations of government indifference start piling up.

Just weeks later, in mid-February, two key suspects vanished from custody during what the cops called an "operation to arrest another suspect."

No chains, no tight security for a high-profile case like this? The escape raised eyebrows everywhere, with community leaders in Onitsha firing off petitions to the Inspector General of Police and Soludo himself, demanding answers.

By May, the police announced they'd re-arrested one of the fugitives, but the other? Still out there, ghosting like a bad memory. No solid explanation ever came—no presser detailing how such a slip-up happened, no heads rolling in the force. It felt like the state was sweeping it under the rug, especially since Azuka was opposition. Lest we forget, as one local activist put it, this was a lawmaker whose killers were meant to be locked down tight, yet they waltzed out during a routine op.

Azuka's burial on February 15, 2025, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Onitsha should've been a moment of closure, but it only amplified the outrage. Soludo showed up, and even there, the governor's words landed like a slap—dismissing the slain man in a public address as "this one that died," a phrase that Onitsha folks took as downright callous.

Also APGA turned the burial venue to a Campaign carnival ground.

The governor was busy telling Obi of Onitsha to emulate Asagba of Asaba and poking the Rev Father who led the funeral service for recognizing more of ndi Labour Party leaders than ndi APGA during the protocol observation.

Hon. Justice Azuka’s widow, Mrs Justina Amaka Azuka switched from LP to ADC and threw her hat in the ring for the by-election to fill her husband's seat.

It's a bold move, one that could've been smoothed over in the old days under Governor Willie Obiano, where family legacies often got a nod—spouses or allies appointed or backed without the knives coming out. But not under Soludo. His APGA party fielded Barr. Mimiy Ikpeazu Ikpeazu as a rival, setting up a showdown that's got the APC howling in protest.

The by-election, set for August 16, pits Justina against APGA's pick, APC's Hon. Chuka Ojekwe Ezennia, and YPP's Princess Njideka Ndiwe, among others. Nine parties are in the mix for Onitsha North 1, alongside a senatorial race, but all eyes are on this widow's fight.

Public figures haven't held back. Rev. Father Ebube Muonso blasted the suspect escape as unacceptable, tying it to Soludo's broader security flops. The Onitsha community held town halls, issuing statements of "deep sadness and outrage," while LP reps called it a symptom of unchecked violence.

Even Pat Utomi weighed in, questioning how ₦100 million vanished from Azuka's accounts without a freeze—pointing fingers at state failures. And Soludo? He's been too busy scrapping with everyone from Peter Obi (mocking his single-term pledge as needing a "mental check") to dragging local councilors into his orbit after APGA swept those controversial LG polls last September.

Soludo—a governor who's in power but acts hungrier than the outsiders, fighting Obi, the widow, and insecurity all at once.

As the by-election looms next week, with Justina campaigning to honor her husband's legacy, the question hangs heavy: Will justice for Azuka ever come, or is this the new normal in a state where even the dead get shortchanged?

Any Electorate that goes ahead to vote against Mrs Justina Amaka Azuka has to a very heartless and horrible human.