The former Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Dr Ben Nwoye, on Wednesday decried the growing and high rate of insecurity within Enugu metropolis in recent time.
Nwoye, a foundation member of the ruling APC, urged residents of Enugu metropolis to assist law enforcement agencies with credible information to resolve pile-up of unresolved crime especially assassinations.
The APC chieftain made the call in a statement he personally issued in Enugu expressing deep regret on the gruesome murder of the Chairman of Ogbete Main Market Traders Association (OMMATA), Enugu, Chief Stephen Aniagu.
It would be recalled that Aniagu was shot dead on Saturday by yet to be identified assailants on Saturday at about 7p.m. in the Top-Land area of Amaechi Road Axis of Enugu metropolis.
He noted the brutal murder of Aniagu “by assassins in a broad daylight is a painful reminder that criminal elements in and around Enugu had continued to operate targeting and killing politicians, emerging leaders and community leaders without trace”.
According to him, it is more worrisome realising that the 48-hour deadline given to the security agencies by the state government to solve the crime have expired and there is no trace of the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
He said: “The gruesome murder case file is gradually descending into the vault of cold cases stored by the Enugu State Police Command Criminal Investigation Department.
“All we hear is the same old statement, ‘we are on top of the situation, the killers will be brought to justice’.
“We heard the same story in 2018 when I was almost assassinated in my sleep. I escaped death by the whiskers but my police orderly was not so lucky.
“He was shot in the temple. He survived the attack due to miraculous medical intervention he received at my personal expense.”
He also cited the cases of Kevin Ezeoha and Chidera Ogaba, who were shot dead in broad daylight while attending a APC meeting; adding: “All the noise made by the security agencies could not result in any arrest, detention, prosecution or conviction.”
Nwoye added that the same killers went on a murderous rampage two days before the 2023 General Election and killed Chief Oyibo Chukwu and his driver while setting the bodies of their victims ablaze.
He said: “The same day Chief Oyibo Chukwu was killed, the blood thirsty assassins killed the driver of Hon. Ofor Chukwuegbo.
“As if the death of Chief Oyibo Chukwu and others were not enough, a few months after the unfortunate event, Enugu State lost yet another illustrious son in the person of Chief Dons Udeh.
“The security agencies took the same old part with the same war of words promising to fish out the killers of Chief Dons Udeh.
“The former Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi promised to pay N5 million to anyone with information leading to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of the killers. Once again, the death of Dons Udeh remained unsolved.”
The APC chieftain, however, called on residents to rise up to the occasion by giving actionable and credible information to security agencies.
He said that security agencies cannot solve the crime without getting useful information from witnesses.
According to him, the conspiracy of silence must cease. Ndi-Enugu (Enugu residents) cannot pretend not to know the killers of our leaders.
He said: “We can no longer afford to hide under the unholy blanket of ‘Unknown Gunmen’. The gunmen are well known to us because they live among us. They are Ndi-Enugu.
“Someone among us knows who wants me dead, those who killed Comrade Kelvin Ezeoha and Chidera Ogaba.
“Someone reading this piece knows who killed Chief Oyibo Chukwu and his driver. Someone knows who killed the driver of Hon. Ofor Chukwuegbo. Someone knows who killed Udeh. Someone in our community knows who killed Chief Stephen Aniagu.
“The conspiracy of silence must end now, I repeat- someone who saw something must say something. Someone who knows something must say something.”