The Abia State Governor Alex Otti has strongly condemned the killing of a chieftain of the Labour Party, Mr. Maduka Zakari, in Uturu, Isuikwuato LGA of the state by yet-to-be-identified assailants.

Otti, in a statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor, Media and Publicity, Mr Ferdinand Ekeoma, on Friday, described the gruesome murder of Zakari who was beheaded by his killers as insane, barbaric, and vicious.

He, therefore, called on security agents from different security agencies to swing into action and ensure that whoever was involved in the killing, directly or indirectly is brought to justice and made to pay heavily for their ungodly action.

The governor expressed sadness that the Late Zakari who distinguished himself during the last general election as the Labour Party campaign manager in Uturu. Zakari was said to have played active roles as a community leader in fighting kidnapping but had his life cut short when he was supposed to reap the fruits of good governance being initiated by the LP government.

He promised that the government would stand by his family and give them all the necessary support required as they deal with this sad loss.

The state chief executive restated his commitment to ensuring absolute protection of life and property in Abia State in particular and South East in general, which necessitated the recent launch of a joint security Taskforce codenamed “Operation Crush”, an initiative that has caused a serious reduction in all kinds of criminal activities in the state, especially kidnapping at Lokpanta part of the state and assured that security agents would sustain a robust onslaught on those who desire to build a criminal enclave in any part of Abia State.