A former member of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Barr Nwabueze Ugwu, Friday, charged the Nigeria Police to adopt professional skills in curtailing recurring cases of assassination in the state.
Barr Ugwu, a former governorship aspirant in the state under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, was reacting to the killing of the Chairman of Ogbete Main Market Traders’ Association, Chief Stephen Aniagu, last Saturday.
Aniagu was killed around 8pm by unknown gunmen along Amechi road after attending a campaign of the chairmanship candidate of the PDP for Nkanu West LGA ahead of council polls holding in Enugu State on Saturday.
Ugwu regretted that the perpetrators of such killings had not been apprehended in the past, and urged the police to rise to the challenge.
He recalled that his brother, Sunday Ugwu, was killed in a similar manner some twenty-five years ago, and those behind the acts were not apprehended despite the facts he tendered to law-enforcement agencies.
He said, “Twenty-five years ago, my brother, Sunday, was killed. Till date, in spite of my efforts, nobody has been convicted. People that committed the crime were named, but nothing happened. Section 33 of the Nigerian Constitution states that nobody has a right to take another’s life except on the orders of the court.”
He said the murder of the late Ogbete traders’ chairman was disturbing. In his words, “We attended a campaign rally ahead of tomorrow’s chairmanship poll in the state. Less than twenty minutes after the event, I was called that he has been killed. We come from the same electoral ward in Nkanu West. He was murdered the same way my brother was murdered twenty-five years ago.”
He said the Nigeria Police are equipped to fight crimes if the operatives want, noting that most police operatives exhibit unprofessional conduct while on duty.
He said, “You can see about ten police operatives on the road, all checking vehicle papers, with none of them being battle ready. Are they on the road to check vehicle papers?
“They can stop most criminal activities happening in the state if they become more serious. I think what we need is restructuring so that there will be state police. As it is, state governors can do less because there are no state police.”
Recall that Gov Peter Mbah had given security agencies in the state 48 hours to apprehend the killers of the late chairman of Ogbete traders; a task yet to be accomplished.