The police in Anambra State, Nigeria, must ensure that journalist Ikechukwu Udendu’s murderers are brought to justice, the International Press Institute (IPI) said on Friday.

Ikechukwu Udendu, who publishes and edits a monthly newspaper, Anambra News, was killed on Saturday morning after he left his home in Ogidi to visit the paper’s printing house in the city of Onitsha, reports said. He appears to have been killed on his way back home.

The victim’s older brother and co-publisher, Chukwulozie Udendu, received a call from the alleged perpetrators on Saturday night, who told him to pick up his brother’s body in front of the Okay Okay restaurant, reports said. Undendu said it appeared that a bullet had passed through his brother’s hand and into his ribs and lungs, a report on saharareporters.com said. The victim’s remains are now being held at Iyi-Enu Hospital Mortuary, reports said.

Kabiru Yusuf, chief editor of The Daily Trust and chairman of IPI Nigeria, said in emailed statement: “The killing of Ikechukwu Udendu, editor of Anambra News, an Onitsha (Eastern Nigeria) based monthly newspaper, on Saturday January 12 by unknown gunmen, is an ominous beginning to the year for Nigerian journalism. Even though criminal violence is responsible for many such unexplained deaths, circumstantial evidence suggests Mr Udendu was killed because of his work as a journalist.”

Noting that police have promised a quick inquiry, Yusuf added: “We demand that this investigation should also be thorough and transparent and all those concerned, including the media, should be fully briefed.”

“We call on the authorities to do a better job of protecting all media and other workers, going about their legitimate duties,” Yusuf said.

Last year, two Nigerian journalists were the victims of targeted killings and a further three lost their lives in a car accident while on assignment. In April 2012, a coordinated bomb attack against ThisDay and the The Sun newspapers in Abuja and Kaduna took the lives of at least eight media employees. The militant group Boko Haram later claimed responsibility. Last Sunday, Jan 13, suspected mastermind Mohammed Zangina, a.k.a. Alhaji Musa, was arrested in the city of Maiduguri by members of the Joint Task Force, the Vanguard reported.