Suswan to FG: Probe Gana’s killing by soldiers

A former governor of Benue State, who is representing Benue North-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Gabriel Suswan, has asked the Federal Government to set up a judicial panel to unravel the killing of the late Terwase Agwaza alias Gana by soldiers on Tuesday.

The deceased was killed by some soldiers on September 8 on his way to Makurdi, the state capital, to formally surrender himself to Governor Samuel Ortom.

But reacting to the incident in a statement titled, “A time to heal”, in Abuja, on Wednesday, Suswam said the soldiers’ action could frustrate the peace already being achieved in the state.

Suswam said, “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.

“An independent judicial commission of inquiry will unravel facts of the matter to serve as lessons for the future.

“The events of September 8 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.

“It is no secret that my senatorial district has been traumatised and the people terrorised by activities of criminal gangs led by Mr. Terwase Agwaza alias Gana for many years.

“The consequences of this endless terrorism has been a steady decline of economic and social activities leaving a once prosperous people pauperised.

“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.

“It is with this solution mindset that traditional rulers, clergymen, and elders of the area decided to utilise means of constructive engagement and dialogue to ensure that youths of the area do not become tools for the destruction of that society. Punch