Amorji-Nike is one of the numerous sleepy communities in Enugu State that are fast developing to the status of a township. Situated in the north-east of Enugu, the community has not made news in recent times except when tragedy struck there on the night of Saturday, March 2.

Close to the popular Nike Lake Resort Hotel, people have of recent been attracted to buying lands in the Amorji community for residential purposes. That was where the late Commissioner of Police in Kwara State, Chinwike Asadu, bought a plot of land and erected his Enugu residence.

Ever since the assassination of CP Asadu, residents of the area have been inundated with all manner of high profile visitors that have thronged the residence of the late CP for condolences. The roll call includes Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu; Governor Abdul Fatah Ahmed of Kwara State; the immediate past Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo; Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Emeka Sibudu; senators Gil Nnaji and Ayogu Eze; police officers from Kwara, Enugu and other states, among many other dignitaries that have registered their presence in the late CP's residence. The Inspector General of Police, MD Abubakar, is expected at the same venue tomorrow.

Wishing the murdered CP a rest in peace, Onovo said that the police force would not rest until justice was done on the gruesome murder. He insisted that the killers must pay for the dastardly act.

"It is a challenge to the NPF. Rest in peace in the bosom of our Lord Jesus Christ," the former IGP wished his fallen colleague.

Governor Ahmed noted that the late Asadu lived a fulfilled life and made an indelible mark in the heart of all. He prayed God to grant the family, left behind, the strength to bear the irreparable loss.

On his own account, Sibudu, who is an in-law of the late CP, blamed the rising spate of crime on unemployment but he however noted that unemployment was no excuse for crime. Senator Gil Nnaji in whose Enugu East Senatorial District constituency the tragedy occurred, regretted that the only police commissioner from Enugu State was assassinated.

He said he and his colleagues in the National Assembly had charged the IGP to ensure that the culprits are brought to book. Senator Eze, who led a caucus of the Enugu North Senatorial District in the National Assembly to empathise with the bereaved, promised that they would not only participate in the burial activities but would also be involved in the processes that would lead to the capture of the assassins. Wife and children of the late CP look traumatised as they declined to speak to the press.

The relations as well said it's not yet time for them to speak as they only stayed to receive sympathisers. An extended family relation of the late CP, Callistus Ugwuanyi, however, said his community of Ihenowerri-Nru, Nsukka had been devastated over the death. He said the late CP was kind-hearted and did not have problems with anyone in his native Nsukka community and wondered why he should be assassinated.

Ugwuanyi said that as a commissioner in the anti-fraud unit of the Police Force, Asadu distinguished himself creditably and wondered what would have gone wrong to warrant his murder.

"He was a very wonderful man, ever smiling and very close to the family. He was a fine gentleman; it's only when you see him in uniform that you would know he was a force man. I was even surprised that he was assassinated. He related very well with people in the village and only last year, the Nsukka people held a reception in his honour.

They were overjoyed that their son had arrived as a commissioner, so you can see the level of relationship he had with his people; if he had not been nice, we wouldn't hold a reception in his honour. Everybody is feeling bad about it in the village," lamented Ugwuanyi.

A resident of Amorji-Nike, who leaves close to the spot of the assassination, said he had noticed an unusual police presence in a Nissan jeep and another Hilux van in the evening of that Saturday before the attack took place. He said he suspected that something was amiss and that when on Sunday morning he heard about Asadu's killing, his mind went back to the men he saw in that Amorji area who, he claimed, two wore police uniforms.

The CP's orderly and driver that are still receiving treatment were identified as Aloh Olaniyi and Oliver Omeh respectively. They reportedly sustained serious injuries. The assassins were said to have shot sporadically. They reportedly took away the rifle of the orderly who was badly wounded.

The orderly was shot in the chest, stomach, hands and leg while the driver was shot in his legs. "The gunmen shot him twice and came back to make sure he was dead before they ran away in their bus, and this was before the CP's escort team that was inside his compound noticed what was happening. When the escort team and sympathisers rushed to the scene, they met CP Asadu and his orderlies in a pool of blood.

They were rushed to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu where doctors confirmed the CP dead. The other two policemen are now on admission at the hospital," he said. The new Police Commissioner in Enugu State, Mr. Tonye Ebitibituwa, was said to have directed his men to conduct a manhunt for the gunmen within and outside the state capital in order to track them down, without delay.

Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, after commiserating with the family, placed a N10 million reward for anyone who could give a clue to the arrest of the assassins. The governor disclosed that there had been recent upsurge in crime in the state that had peculiar trait of the criminals retrieving guns from their victims after assassination. It would be recalled that a police orderly to the governor's son, Nnamdi, was reportedly assassinated recently in Enugu and his gun removed from him.

He said: "Well I agree with you, this particular crime, the trend is most embarrassing, not just to the police, but to the nation. For a CP to be killed in such a manner, to me, is quite unfortunate and the state government has decided to show the seriousness of what has happened; it has followed a pattern. What they do now is to follow and kill people with escorts; they kill and collect the gun. I think it has taken a pattern. So we are paying a ransom of N10 million to anybody that will give us information that will lead to the arrest f the culprits to show the seriousness. It's quite embarrassing."

Chime said his government had acquired patrol vehicles now being fitted with other security gadgets. Four days after the incident, police in Enugu had embarked on random arrests of suspected criminals in the state. The state Commissioner of Police, Tonye Ebitibituwa, in a news conference confirmed the arrest of suspected criminals from different hideouts but insisted that he would not disclose the number so far made.

Sunday Mirror however learnt that over 200 suspects are already in different police cells in the state going through interrogation. It was learnt that the Abakpa police cell in the state was already filled up while transfers are being made to the state police headquarters for alternative accommodation of the suspects. The state police commissioner equally refused to disclose the identity of the calibre of persons arrested, noting however that no innocent person would be intimidated. "It is a random arrest from criminal domains. We will let you know as soon as it is possible," he said.

Ebitibituwa also stated that from what the command had so far, it was difficult to explain the motive behind the assassination of the Kwara CP, adding that the driver and orderly who survived the attack are in intensive hospital care "and we've been talking with them to put pieces together. We don't want to speculate yet and we don't want to jump the gun. We have made arrests and we are intensifying," the commissioner stated.