Suswam connects Gana's murder to the rise of Boko Haram

By Tunde Opalana

A former governor of Benue state, Senator Gabriel Suswam has criticised the extra-judicial killing of a wanted criminal in Benue state, Terwase Agwaza popularly known as Gana by security agents on Tuesday, Daily Times gathered.

Gana, a notorious kidnapper was killed after he along with his militia had surrendered arms and publicity renounce a life of crime.

The serving senator in a statement in Abuja Wednesday condemned the killing of Gana without due trial in a competent court of law.

He lamented that the crisis that erupted consequent upon the killing could have been averted, adding that the resulting violent protest has thrown the state into a critical situation.

He said “the events of 8th September 2020 in my senatorial district where repentant criminals who had surrendered after extensive persuasions were singled out and killed extra-judicially leaves a sour taste and has opened a gaping wound that requires all efforts to heal”.

Suswam acknowledged the fact that his senatorial district has been traumatized and the people terrorized by activities of criminal gangs led by Terwase Agwaza alias Gana for many years.

He said the consequences of this endless terrorism have been a steady decline of economic and social activities leaving a once prosperous people pauperized.

“Markets no longer attract traders, schools are closed and farmlands abandoned. Politics in the area has become a war with the uncontrolled proliferation of dangerous weapons.

“No responsible leader will idly standby and watch his community become a theatre of war and a gangster’s paradise”, he added.

The senator questioned the rationale of armed soldiers that allegedly ambushed and isolated Gana for killing

He said “while I have been consistent in condemning the reign of terror he unleashed on his community, I cannot in good conscience as a lawyer of over three decades and a senior parliamentarian accept cold-blooded extra-judicial murder of an unarmed person as a solution to our security problems. The lessons of the Boko Haram escalation after a similar murder of its leader are still here with us.

“If this method is accepted as a norm in our country, there will be no need for laws and courts. We stand to benefit more by subjecting suspects to due process of the law. Information extracted from a living Gana would have helped security agents get to the root of the activities of criminals. By this Gestapo style execution, we have missed an opportunity to learn vital lessons about the structure of crime in the area.

“Even war criminals captured alive are entitled to certain rights. The claim that Gana was killed in a gunfight needs further explanation because those who accompanied him and who watched him being taken away, including his Local Government Chairman, do not believe he was in possession of any arms”.

Suswam called for an independent judicial commission of inquiry to unravel facts of the matter to serve as lessons for the future.