Silence Brokenโฆ
From December 2024 until now, there was one question I never stopped asking my boss, the Rt. Hon. Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, and the few House members leading the desperate search for Hon. Justice Azuka: “๐จ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐?”
It was a question I asked with heavy heart, knowing that each passing day without an answer deepened my worst fears. Hon. Justice’s disappearance was not just another headline. It was personal. It shook me. It burdened Mr. Speaker. It unsettled everyone at the State Assembly.
I remember the night he was abductedโyes, night, not during the day as some have falsely claimed. The call came in like a thunderbolt, shattering whatever sense of normalcy we had left. Mr. Speaker had been preparing for the next dayโs engagements, but the moment he received the news, he froze. He never came out of his room. We missed every single appointment of the next day. His compound turned into a graveyard of silence. The weight of uncertainty pressed down on us, and for the first time, I saw a man known for his resilience, broken.
Hon. Justice wasnโt just a House member. He was family. He was my friend. My partner. My trusted ally in business. I rarely visited lawmakers’ offices, but his? That was different. We talked, strategized, and shared ideas because I marketed most of the properties he was selling. Even the day before his abduction, we were making plans to hang out and as always, he tipped me generously without me even asking. That was who he wasโkind, thoughtful, selfless.
One may call him the “last born” of the 8th Assembly, having joined six months later than others due to a long legal battle, yet he was one of the most active. He didnโt need years to prove himself.ย He made every second count. The crowd that accompanied him to the Assembly on his first appearance was massive. It showed he was a man of the people. He later proved that to every one of us in the State Assembly.
During Mr. Speakerโs thanksgiving service, which was 2-days before his abduction, he moved around, serving people like a steward, unbothered by status or ego.ย It was also true that his account was used to collate money from committee of friends for another house member who was burying a family member. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐งt โMr. Speaker and memberโs swift and calculated action ensured that whatever evil plans they had, at least that one failed.
๐๐จ๐ง. ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ค๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐. This was according to the confession by his killers who are facing the wrath of the law. His killers may have taken him, but one thing they could never take away was the truth.
A heartbreaking comment I stumbled upon suggested that the 8th Assembly remained silent during this crisis, that they did nothing. One thing I have reminded folks is that governance is not content creation where updates roll in like entertainment. I felt like screaming.
Leadership, real leadership, is not a social media show. You donโt fight criminals with cameras flashing. You donโt go on air giving step-by-step updates when lives are at stake and you are working with intelligence. Information management is key during this period. Any small information that is not guided well, you might lose every detail or lead.
What the members of the 8th Assembly did was something deeperโsomething more tactical. Led by Rt. Hon. Speaker, Rt Rt. Hon. Somtochukwu Nkem Udeze, they fought, with everythingโintelligence, strategy, financesโuntil every single person involved in Hon. Justiceโs murder was captured. ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐!
Yes, we lost him. The pain still sits like a dagger in our chests. But let it be knownโhis death was not in vain.ย The fight against these evil and blood-sucking brood of vipers have been taken to another level with the capture of the assailants and the government is not matching any brake.
Onitsha North lost a true democrat. The Assembly lost one of its brightest stars. I lost a friend.
And that void left by Hon. Justice? It will never be filled.
However, there will never be peace for the wicked! May Anambra succeed!!
Franklin Osankwa
Special Assistant/ New Media And Communications
Office of the Rt. Hon. Speaker,ย ANHA.
