The statue of the first President of Nigeria, late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe popularly known as ‘Zik of Africa’ has been set ablaze by thugs masquerading as #EndSARS protesters in Onitsha, Anambra.
The statute, located at Denis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS) roundabout Onitsha, was erected months ago by Gov. Willie Obiano to further beautify the commercial city.
While vandalising the effigy, the hoodlums, armed with dangerous weapons including machete, were heard venting their anger against the late Nigerian statesman.
“You put us in this mess by championing one Nigeria.
“You are the cause of our trouble,” were among their uncomplimentary remarks said in Igbo language.
A kinsman to Azikiwe, Mr Victor Ononye, described the incident as “heresy and sacrilegious.”
According to him, the Rt. Hon. Dr Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, the first President of Federal Republic of Nigeria must be expressing regrets where ever his spirit is for attracting independence to Nigeria.
“What happened at the DMGS Roundabout, Onitsha which I saw with my own eyes evoked tears.
“Miscreants, hoodlums, gutter snippers, loafers, charlatans, nitwits, nincompoops and bastards besieged the statue, hung a used tyre on his neck, poured petrol and set it on fire.
“They decapitated his hand and went away with his title of staff. That was the height of ingratitude of the bastards who are ignorant of history,” he decried.
Ononye said the thugs descended on the various items used for decoration of the site and tore them to pieces.
“They were few in number while the police, a stone throw away to the roundabout could not intervene was a mystery.
“All the iron bars erected round the site were removed. All the decorative lights and materials around the site were vandalised.
“I saw two vigilante men brandishing rifles and riding on a motorcycle. They stopped and the boys hailed them and they drove off.
“It is a pity! Zik of Africa; the sage, who facilitated the end of the Nigeria civil war; Zik who built Nigeria’s foremost University for education excellence in the country doesn’t deserve this,” he added.
