Ebun Olowu
Former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, has called for an investigation into the killing of militia leader, Terwase Agwaza, also known as Gana.
Suswam made the call a day after the military announced that it killed the militia leader who had been wanted for years in a firefight.
“Even war criminals captured alive are entitled to certain rights,” he said in a statement titled ‘A Time to Heal’.
“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.
“An independent judicial commission of inquiry will unravel facts of the matter to serve as lessons for the future”.
Suswam’s comments on the killing are similar to those of Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, who accused the military of bungling a plan aimed at bringing about peace and putting the security of the state in jeopardy.
He confirmed that Gana, a militia leader who had evaded authorities for years, had come out of his hideout on Tuesday as part of an amnesty programme by the Benue government.
He said, “The Benue State Government along with the security agencies have long desired for a return to normalcy, peace, prosperity, and security of the area.
“We have all been in agreement that the continuous existence and activities of gangs are an ill wind that blows no one any good. That is why some leaders were mandated to reach out to these outlaws to persuade them to drop their arms and channel their energies towards the rebuilding of our thoroughly battered community.
“We were all excited to see the dreaded Gana come out of hiding to the warm embrace of our Traditional Rulers, Clergy and political leaders at a public function at the Akume Atongo Stadium in Katsina-Ala. Our joy was multiplied when we saw him along with his militia surrender arms and publicity renounce a life of crime. Our reverred King extracted a pledge from him never to turn his kingdom into a wasteland.”
Pictures which emerged from the meeting between Gana and local authorities on Tuesday before he was killed, showed the militia leader, all smiles, standing with a traditional ruler.
Suswam in his statement said those at the forum “heaved a great sigh of relief with the thought that finally, a life full of uncertainty has come to an end”.
But he is now concerned about the future in his Senatorial district where he said Gana had been a source of terror and warned extrajudicial killings can only lead to more trouble.
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 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.”
