David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka
Late Hon. Okey Okoye, the lawmaker who represented Aguata State constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly was yesterday buried in his home town, Isuofia.
Hon. Okoye was kidnapped alongside his personal assistant, Mr. Cyril Chiegboka in May this year and later beheaded by their captors. Their decapitated bodies were found in different places away from their heads.
His burial yesterday attracted several politicians in the state, including the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, who also hails from the same community with the late lawmaker.
Soludo, who spoke during the burial ceremony, said eight persons suspected to be in connection with the murder of the late Anambra lawmaker had been arrested.
The governor said the state government would not rest on its oars until all the criminals involved in the gruesome murder of the lawmaker are brought to face justice. He also expressed his solidarity to all the victims of criminality in the state, and reassured that every criminal will surely face justice.
He said, “These people are not unknown gunmen. They live among our people, some of them have families and operate from various communities. We need you to help us identify them so that they can face justice.
“The gunmen came with their strange religion, but there is no relationship between light and darkness. Their gods drink blood, but ours doesn’t, that’s why we need to fight them together.
“Eight persons have so far been arrested, among those who participated in the killing of our brother Okey, and we will not rest until we get all of them.”
The governor also declared ‘operation know your tenants’, commencing with Isuofia his community, saying that everyone needs to know those who live amongst them especially non indigenes, as a way of identifying the criminal elements within the communities.
He stated that the state House of Assembly had already written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) about the vacuum that exists in the constituency, with Hon. Okoye’s exit, pointing out that soon a by-election will be conducted to complete his tenure. He also promised that every entitlement due to the late lawmaker will be paid to the family he left behind.
