By Emma Ogbuehi
No matter what is involved and how long it takes, killers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Ahmed Gulak and their sponsors, will be fished out and given appropriate punishment. These were the declarations of Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma, on whose territory, the erstwhile Presidential aide was shot dead by gunmen on Sunday.
Uzodimma who issued the threat in a press conference in Owerri, explained that the shock of Gulak’s death threw him off balance the whole of Sunday, making him skip going to church. He described Gulak’s death as a personal loss to him, stressing that the deceased did not deserve to die in that manner.
“The death of this compatriot is a personal loss to me because he was an invaluable friend and brother whose sense of justice, fairness and uprightness endeared him to me.
“I was shocked to my marrows when the sad news of his callous murder was broken to me. I was getting ready to go to church when the sad news came and I could not attend the service again. It was simply one of the most devastating news I have had in my life and I am yet to recover from the shock. It remains a puzzle to me why anyone would want to murder him in this gruesome and vicious manner”, the governor lamented.
While urging everyone to exercise restraints and allow the Police do its work, Uzodimma assured that the government would spare no efforts in unmasking the killers, their sponsors and handing them deserving punishment. “Let me make it very clear that everything will be done by security agencies to find those who murdered Gulak and their sponsors. They will not by the grace of God escape their deserved punishment. This is not in our character as Igbo, not in our tradition nor in our culture. We must condemn this callous act”, he declared.
The governor’s tough posture came on the heels of an earlier remark by the President, Muhammadu Buhari that the perpetrators of the heinous act would be apprehended and dealt with.
Imo State command of the Police, had shortly after Gulak’s death, pushed out a release, in which it alleged that the deceased left his hotel for the Airport without security escorts and its knowledge. It also blamed his driver for taking an ‘irregular’ route for the journey. Later, the command claimed to have encountered and neutralized the killers.
