“Hon.” Justice Azuka…And The Unknown Three -By Vitus Ozoke

First, let me convey my deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Justice Chukwunenye Azuka. May God comfort and console them, and may the memories of their departed loved one be a blessing. Second, let me apologize to this same family for my use of this sad occasion both as context for this piece and an opportunity to make broader points. To that end, therefore, whatever I say from this point on is not specifically directed at the deceased Anambra lawmaker; it is directed generally at Nigerian politics and politicians – of which he was a part.

The manner of Justice Azuka’s death, as painful as it is, presents a unique opportunity for reflection and insight, and a window view into the dark and ugly corners and underbellies of Nigerian politics. Additionally, it offers a chance for a critical interrogation of the sorry state of Nigeria’s social and criminal justice system. The semantic syllepsis of using the murder of Justice as an occasion and opportunity for the discussion of the state of justice in Nigeria could not be any more ironic, yet fitting.

My central argument in this piece is the double entendre in the kidnap and murder of Justice in Anambra state. Yes, Justice was kidnapped and murdered – and will be buried. And that is sad and bad enough. But even sadder and worse is the everyday kidnap and murder of justice in Anambra state, in Igboland, and in Nigeria. It is the shock and the indecency of the social risqué inherent in the kidnap and murder of justice as an existential principle that we must now guard against. This kidnapped and murdered justice must not be buried. It must be resuscitated and kept alive. Do you see why this piece is not about “Hon” Justice Azuka – specifically? I am not that insensitive.

Now, this is what we know. The decomposing body of Justice Azuka, the lawmaker representing Onitsha 1 North Constituency, who was reportedly kidnapped on the eve of Christmas of 2024, was found in the lower bushes off the Second Niger Bridge on Wednesday, February 5. A team of the recently constituted Anambra security outfit (Agụnechemba) successfully arrested the culprits who led them to that scene of horror. Upon arrival at the scene, however, four bodies were discovered: Justice Azuka and “three others”. The reason I say three others is not because I am too lazy to mention and write out their names. No, it is because their names are unknown, and may remain forever unknown and unknowable.

Their names may never be known because Nigeria, even with all the wealth it produces, does not maintain a medical and dental profile database, nor has it invested in the technology for forensic posthumous identification. And even though this technology and the experts can be externally sourced and imported, there is no governmental appetite for such “unnecessary” stress over common, non-honorable, disposable, and expendable citizens. And I cannot imagine that their kidnappers and killers left the victims’ wallets and identification information on their deceased bodies. So, those three bodies, presumably victims of the same group of kidnappers and killers, may remain forever unknown.

So, to the credit of the gallant men and women of Agụnechemba, “Hon” Justice Azuka’s body has been recovered. Justice Azuka will be given a befitting state burial, whatever befitting means in this chilling orgy of deaths. His body will lie in state at the Anambra State House of Assembly Complex in Agụ Awka, and his fellow politicians will converge to pay their last respect. His body will be buried. His children will know where their father is entombed and will receive financial compensation, including scholarship to university level, from the governor and the government of Anambra state. Why? Because he was a politician, and he was “honorable”. The three others, the unknown and unknowable three, will rot at the scene of the gothic horror. Their family will forever live with the pain of the vacuum of their closed, yet open, life. That, my friends, is the irony of living and breathing injustice at the death of Justice. And that, sadly, will remain a tangential and collateral legacy of Justice Azuka.

Since the discovery of Justice Azuka’s mangled and decomposed remains, Gov. Charles Soludo and the Agunechemba team have taken victory laps, as should they. The Agụnechemba team, yes; their victory laps are well deserved. But, Gov. Charles Soludo, no. Truth of the whole matter is that Soludo failed Justice Azuka, his family, and the people of Anambra state. So, he may want to pump his brakes on a victory lap on this. Why did it take the kidnap and murder of a lawmaker, and a fellow politician, for Soludo to begin swinging? I retract that question; it is too charitable. The real and better question is why did it take the eve of his reelection for Gov. Soludo to begin swinging?

Professor Charles Soludo was sworn-in and inaugurated Governor of Anambra state on March 17, 2022. Hundreds, if not thousands, have been kidnapped and (or) murdered since Soludo has camped out at Agụ Awka. Prior to his becoming governor, Charles Soludo had seen insecurity up close and personal – or so it seemed. On Wednesday, July 31, 2021, during a political event at his Isuofia hometown, three police officers attached to Charles Soludo, then a governorship aspirant, were killed by unknown gunmen. You would think that with that horrific experience, Soludo’s first order of business in Agụ Awka would be a massive state of emergency on the perilous state of security (insecurity) in Anambra. It was not. Instead, it was this mad obsession with taxing Anambra people and businesses deep and down to their bones and bottomlines.

And now, on the eve of his reelection, which is scheduled for November 8, 2025, Soludo wakes up – suddenly – to insecurity. On January 18, 2025, a man scheduled for reelection on November 8, 2025, constitutes the largest security operation known in the history of Anambra state and Igbo land. Do not get me wrong, I commend the good governor for that. I commend him for his sharp political instinct. But the security of Anambra people should not, never, be dictated by the whims and vagaries of politics. So, to Gov. Soludo his apologists who have argued that the good governor moved quickly with the creation of Agụnechemba on January 18, following the kidnap of “Hon” Justice Azuka on Christmas eve, I say drop that asinine argument. It is not a good argument for the governor.

The only thing worse than a governor that left the open sore of insecurity to fester is the governor who swung into security action only after a lawmaker and fellow politician was kidnapped. If Soludo’s close shave with death in 2021, when three of his security details were killed by the mysterious unknown gunmen, did not do it for him, then surely, the kidnap of a lawmaker, from an opposing political party, did not do it for him. Something else did. November 8 did. Politics did. And it is a damn shame!

To ndi Anambra and friends of ndi Anambra, of which I am one, Agụnechemba is about the much-needed security of lives and property in that beautiful hardworking state. To Gov. Soludo, however, this is not about securing ndị Anambra; this is about securing the votes of ndi Anambra. If this were about securing ndị Anambra, it would not be happening on the eve of reelection. If it were about securing ndị Anambra, those three would not be unknown. Those unknown three had been there longer than Justice Azuka had been, but nobody was looking for them. If it were about securing ndị Anambra, you would have made some effort to, at least, identify those unknown three, and give their family a sense of closure and peace. But this is not about securing ndi Anambra.

Look, the death of Justice in Anambra is also the death of justice in our society. With Justice Azuka’s kidnap and murder, the chickens of injustice may have come home to roost. Those wandering chickens have always been out there. They are the chickens of youth poverty and unemployment. They are the chickens of high cost of living. They are the chickens of hunger. They are the chickens of insecurity. They are the chickens of cheapened life. They are the chickens of both physical and psychological harassment of the Nigerian youth by those who have stolen their patrimony and their future. Those chickens have hit closer home – to roost.

We must now make a decision as a society. Do we want to kill the chickens, or do we want to provide them with coops? We cannot arrest and kill our way out of poor, unemployed, and angry Nigerian youth. There are over 100 million more from where the kidnappers and murderers of Justice Azuka came. So, we cannot, practically and conceivably, arrest and kill them all – even if we try. And there are not enough jail or prison spaces to hold them. But we can “kill” and reduce the growing cesspool of corrupt politicians and leaders who breed poor and angry youth. I am not advocating the killing of anyone in the literal sense, God forbid! But we must kill a culture that promotes and tolerates a corrupt and avaricious political class and leadership.

We must now make haste and make hay while the sun still shines. We must chase after the black goat while it is still day; because, when night falls, the black goat vanishes into darkness. Unfortunately, the night may have descended upon us already. The children whose future and destiny you have stolen and coveted for yourselves and your own children are coming for you and your children. They are coming to collect what you have stolen from them. Again, I apologize that I’m using the sad occasion of the death of this politician to sound this ominous warning, but I have been making this same point for almost 30 years now. Those who have rendered others poor, homeless, and angry must learn to sleep wide awake in their own homes. This may just be the beginning.

We must be careful, else this becomes the beginning of a Robin Hood movement in the Nigerian society. If it ever gets so framed, if the narrative takes the turn and tone of the angry poor, recovering what has been stolen from them by the political class, even if kidnap and murder is used, then we are all done for. We are all done for because a Robin Hood syndrome will confer public legitimacy, support, and sympathy on what is a crime otherwise. And before you dismiss Robin Hood as a fictional character and fantasy, you may want to review the December 4, 2024 New York shooting death of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, by 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, and how a healthy majority of the American public have blamed high health insurance profits and coverage denials more than they have blamed the killer.

Again, and finally, my deep sympathies for the kidnapped and murdered Justice Azuka. May he rest. A befitting burial, may he have. But we must now ensure that justice is not buried with Justice. You may have noticed that I have enclosed Hon. (for Honorable) in quotes every time I have used it. That was intentional. There is nothing remotely honorable about Nigerian politics and Nigerian politicians. Just as there is nothing excellent about Nigerian political leaders to warrant the stupidity of prefixing their corrupt names with His (or Her) Excellency. We need to stop doing that. There is nothing excellent about criminals.

* Dr. Vitus Ozoke is a lawyer, human rights activist, and public commentator based in the United States