By Chinedu Adonu

The gruesome murder of Chief Stephen Aniagu, Chairman of Ogbete Main Market Traders Association (OMMTA) Enugu and other recent killings by suspected assassins have continued to elicit vehement condemnations from the high and the low in Enugu State and beyond.

The former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Enugu State Chapter, Dr Ben Nwoye, has urged the people of the state to ‘stop the conspiracy of silence and unveil killers of our brothers’.

In a statement signed and made available to journalists in Enugu by Dr Nwoye, he lamented the painful reminder of criminal elements in and around Enugu State who have continued to operate their evil enterprise targeting and killing politicians, emerging leaders and community leaders without trace.

He added that It was more painful and worrisome to realise that the 48-hour deadline given to the security agencies to provide the killer of Aniagu by the State government had expired and there was no trace of the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

He said, “The gruesome murder case file is gradually descending into the vault of cold case stored by Enugu State Police Command Criminal Investigation Department. All we hear is the same old statement, we are on top of the situation, the killers will be brought to justice.”

“We heard the same story in 2018 when I was almost assassinated in my sleep, I escaped death by the whiskers but my police orderly was not so lucky. He was shot in the temple. He survived the attack due to the miraculous medical intervention he received at my expense.

“As if that was not enough, Kevin Ezeoha and Chidera Ogaba were shot dead in broad daylight while attending APC meeting. All the noise made by the security agencies could not result in any arrest, detention, prosecution or conviction of the culprits.

“These same killers went on a murderous rampage two days before the 2023 general election. They killed Chief Barr. Oyibo Chukwu and his driver. To make the matter worse they set the bodies of their victims ablaze. As usual, the security agencies made loud noise promising to bring the perpetrators to book. To this day nothing has come of it. The killers of Barr Oyibo Chukwu and his driver are still roaming the street.

“The same day Barr Oyibo Chukwu was killed, the bloodthirsty assassins killed the driver of Hon. Ofor Chukwuegbo.

“As if the death of Barr Oyibo Chukwu and others were not enough, a few months after the unfortunate event, Enugu State lost yet another illustrious son in the person of Hon.Chief Dons Ude. The security agencies took the same old part with the same war of words promising to fish out the killers of Chief Dons Udeh. The former Governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi placed a N5,000,000 gift to anyone with information leading to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of the killers. Once again, the death of Dons Udeh remained unsolved.

“Now comes the death of the Chairman of OMMATA one week before the Local Government Election. We are hearing the same rhetoric. I hope that this will be an exception. But with the expiration of 48 48-hour ultimatum and no news of arrest, I am hopelessly disappointed.

“Enugu people have to rise to the occasion. The security agencies cannot solve the crime without getting useful information from witnesses. The conspiracy of silence must cease. NdiEnugu cannot pretend not to know the killers of our leaders. We can no longer afford to hide under the unholy blanket of “Unknown Gunmen. The gunmen are well known to us because they live among us. They’re NdiEnugu.

“Someone amongst us knows who wants me dead, they know who killed Comrade Kelvin Ezeoha and Chidera Ogaba. Someone reading this piece knows who killed Chief Barr Oyibo Chukwu and his driver. Someone knows who killed the driver of Hon. Ofor Chukwuegbo. Someone knows who killed Chief Dons Udeh. Someone in our community knows who killed Chief Stephen Aniagu.

“The conspiracy of silence must end now, I repeat! Someone who saw something must say something. Someone who knows something must say something,” he appealed.