Residents of the Ozalla community in the Nkanu West council area have vowed not to rest until the killers of Dons Udeh, APGA gubernatorial aspirant in Enugu, are arrested.

Community members, dressed in black, carried various placards on Wednesday in Enugu to protest.

Mr Udeh was kidnapped on April 22, and his decomposing body was found on April 26 at 9th Mile Corner, Udi local council.

In a protest letter submitted to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Ozalla Development Union (ODU) said, “We are resolved to treat this case as a matter of great importance and with utter dispatch to avoid this case falling into the bucket of numerous unresolved murder cases.”

The president-general of the union, C.N.N. Nwagbara, signed the letter and handed it over to Mr Ugwuanyi.

“The deceased was an accomplished statesman, a community leader and a patriot who had held several positions at the local, state and federal levels,” said the letter. “He was a man who brought to bear his wealth of experience, capacity and strict sense of nation-building to our own state and the nation at large. He had served creditably well in all the offices he occupied to the admiration of the public. His footsteps in the democratic processes and institutions stand tall as ever.”

The ODU expressed worry that the deceased could be murdered in a cruel manner that depicted the public execution of the medieval era. The union added that the gruesome murder had traumatised the community.

“Though we are aggrieved, we have decided not to take laws into our own hands, being law-abiding citizens. We are therefore constrained to write to your office, knowing your penchant for due process and unblemished integrity to always ensure that justice is not only done but seen to be done in any case brought before you,” the community stressed.

The letter added, “We trust your establishment to conduct an intense forensic investigation into this dastardly act, to reveal the perpetrators behind it and bring them to book as soon as practicable. This will bring succour to us and send a signal to others nursing similar criminal intents to steer clear. We are more than willing and ready to cooperate with you to achieve this set objective.”

Obiora Okwuibe, the convener of #JusticeforDonsUdeh, said the community had yet to heal from the kidnap of a traditional ruler from Ozalla Etiti.

“This is one murder too many for us to swallow. We have come on our knees to beg the government to bring the perpetrators of this dastardly and heinous act to book. The cases of adoption in our community are becoming alarming and we’re begging the government to come to our aid and stop this carnage,” Mr Okwuibe said.

Mr Ugwuanyi expressed concern over the sad incident. He assured the Ozalla community of his commitment to ensuring that hoodlums had no place in Enugu.

The governor assured them of his readiness to support the community and security agents to ensure the perpetrators were nabbed and prosecuted.

(NAN)