By Franklin Osankwa
Silence Broken…
From December 2024 until now, there was one question I never stopped asking my boss, the Rt. Hon. Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, and the few House members leading the desperate search for Hon. Justice Azuka: “Any good news?”
It was a question I asked with heavy heart, knowing that each passing day without an answer deepened my worst fears. Hon. Justice’s disappearance was not just another headline. It was personal. It shook me. It burdened Mr. Speaker. It unsettled everyone at the State Assembly.
I remember the night he was abducted—yes, night, not during the day as some have falsely claimed. The call came in like a thunderbolt, shattering whatever sense of normalcy we had left. Mr. Speaker had been preparing for the next day’s engagements, but the moment he received the news, he froze. He never came out of his room. We missed every single appointment of the next day. His compound turned into a graveyard of silence. The weight of uncertainty pressed down on us, and for the first time, I saw a man known for his resilience, broken.
Hon. Justice wasn’t just a House member. He was family. He was my friend. My partner. My trusted ally in business. I rarely visited lawmakers’ offices, but his? That was different. We talked, strategized, and shared ideas because I marketed most of the properties he was selling. Even the day before his abduction, we were making plans to hang out and as always, he tipped me generously without me even asking. That was who he was—kind, thoughtful, selfless.
One may call him the “last born” of the 8th Assembly, having joined six months later than others due to a long legal battle, yet he was one of the most active. He didn’t need years to prove himself. He made every second count. The crowd that accompanied him to the Assembly on his first appearance was massive. It showed he was a man of the people. He later proved that to everyone of us in the State Assembly.
During Mr. Speaker’s thanksgiving service, which was 2-days before his abduction, he moved around, serving people like a steward, unbothered by status or ego. It was also true that his account was used to collate money from committee of friends for another house member who was burying a family member. But there was no withdrawal of N100M fom his account —Mr. Speaker and member’s swift and calculated action ensured that whatever evil plans they had, at least that one failed.
Hon Justice was killed the same night he was kidnapped. This was according to the confession by his killers who are facing the wrath of the law. His killers may have taken him, but one thing they could never take away was the truth.
A heartbreaking comment I stumbled upon suggested that the 8th Assembly remained silent during this crisis, that they did nothing. One thing I have reminded folks is that governance is not content creation where updates roll in like entertainment. I felt like screaming.
Leadership, real leadership, is not a social media show. You don’t fight criminals with cameras flashing. You don’t go on air giving step-by-step updates when lives are at stake and you are working with intelligence. Information management is key during this period. Any small information that is not guided well, you might lose every detail or lead.
What the members of the 8th Assembly did was something deeper—something more tactical. Led by Rt. Hon. Speaker, Rt Rt. Hon. Somtochukwu Nkem Udeze, they fought, with everything—intelligence, strategy, finances—until every single person involved in Hon. Justice’s murder was captured. Not one of them escaped!
Yes, we lost him. The pain still sits like a dagger in our chests. But let it be known—his death was not in vain. The fight against these evil and blood-sucking brood of vipers have been taken to another level with the capture of the assailants and the government is not matching any brake.
Onitsha North lost a true democrat. The Assembly lost one of its brightest stars. I lost a friend.
And that void left by Hon. Justice? It will never be filled.
However, there will never be peace for the wicked! May Anambra succeed!!
*Osankwa is Special Assistant/ New Media And Communications
Office of the Rt. Hon. Speaker, ANHA*
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