By Izunna Okafor, Awka
Few months after the launch of the ongoing investigation into the brutal murder of an Anambra lawmaker, the Anambra State Police Command has confirmed the re-arrest of Ikemefuna Ossai, a suspected kidnapper and one of the masterminds behind the abduction and killing of the late Hon. Justice Azuka, who represented Onitsha South I Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly.
The suspect, who earlier escaped from police custody under yet-to-be-clarified circumstances, was tracked down and rearrested on Tuesday, May 7, 2025, in Asaba, Delta State, following what the police described as a painstaking and intelligence-led manhunt that stretched across several Nigerian states and even into a neighbouring West African country.
Confirming this in a statement issued to newsmen, the Anambra State’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said that the suspect attempted to escape for the second time, upon sighting the police operatives, but was swiftly subdued, sustaining a gunshot wound to the leg in the process.
“Upon sighting the operatives, the suspect attempted to escape arrest but was swiftly subdued and sustained a gunshot wound to the leg in the process,” he stated, adding that the re-arrest is a major breakthrough in the police efforts to ensure justice for the late lawmaker.
The statement further noted that the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, has briefed relevant stakeholders, including the bereaved family of the late lawmaker and the leadership of the State House of Assembly, on the new development. The Commissioner was said to have openly acknowledged and expressed regret over the lapses that led to the suspect’s earlier escape.
According to the police, valuable intelligence obtained from the suspect is now assisting ongoing operations, as the Command intensifies efforts to apprehend other members of the criminal gang believed to be involved in the high-profile assassination and to dismantle the wider network behind such crimes.
It would be recalled that the late lawmaker, Hon. Justice Azuka, was reportedly kidnapped on December 24, 2024, along Ugwunabankpa Road, Inland Town, Onitsha, and was thereafter murdered in cold blood as his decomposing body was discovered on the 2nd Niger Bridge sometime in February this year by a joint security team.
The suspect’s re-arrest has been widely received with relief by many residents and stakeholders who had been calling for justice and accountability since news of the escape broke.
Meanwhile, the Anambra Police Command has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring safety, justice, and public confidence, stressing that it will stop at nothing to bring all perpetrators to book.
