A member of the Anambra House of Assembly has been abducted by gunmen.
The lawmaker, Justice Azuka, was kidnapped along Ugwunapampa Road in Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State on Tuesday night.
Sources said Mr Azuka, who represents Onitsha North Constituency I in the state assembly, was returning home for Christmas celebration when the hoodlums attacked him.
The development was confirmed in a statement forwarded by the police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikengaon Wednesday evening.
He stated that the gunmen abducted the lawmaker at about 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday, adding that the police in the state had “activated operational plans for the possible rescue and arrest of the kidnappers of the lawmaker.”
Like other states in the South-east, Anambra has witnessed increased attacks by gunmen in recent years.
Members and former members of the state assembly had been targeted in some deadly attacks by armed persons terrorising the state.
On 21 May 2022 gunmen abducted Okechukwu Okoye, a lawmaker representing Aguata 2 Constituency in the Anambra House of Assemblyalong Aguluzigbo Road, Anaocha Local Government Area of the state. He was killed alongside his aide, Cyril Chiegboka, six days after they were abducted.
Again, Uzozie Chukwujekwu, a special adviser to a former Chairperson of Nnewi South Council Area was abducted by gunmen, who also shot his only son just a few hours after the news of the beheading of Mr Okoye went public.
Within the same year, two former members of the Anambra House of Assembly were abducted and then killed in separate attacks.
Meanwhile, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is being accused by the Nigerian government of being responsible for some of the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied their involvement.
IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria.
Meanwhile, in a recent effort to address worsening insecurity, the Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, declared amnesty for criminals and kidnappers in the state for the third time since he became governor of the South-eastern state.
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